Lauren Herschel

Lauren was the first person in Calgary to donate a kidney to a stranger

and helped create policy surrounding anonymous donation along the way.

It all began so many years ago with her obsession, at a very young age, to read anything and everything in front of her. On Saturdays, she read the Toronto Star from front to back. One story about organ donation stood out and 2 days later she told her mom (she was 7 at the time) that someday she would become an organ donor. 

When she was 17 her dad became critically ill and by 20 he was gone, but not before she witnessed his regret for missed opportunities. Fast forward to 14 years ago, she read on FaceBook about a high school acquaintance who donated a liver to her father. The idea of organ donation was a recurring theme in her life.

In 2010, feeling something big was just around the corner, she set out on a cross-Canada road trip. She remembers watching the Grey’s Anatomy episode whereby a cross-country paired kidney donation succeeded, and she emailed the Kidney Foundation asking, is this really possible? Can I give a kidney to a stranger?

Wheels now in motion, 8 months later Lauren donated a kidney anonymously as part of a paired donation chain.

Thanks to people like Lauren, several people in great need received kidneys that day. 

Learn more about living kidney donation here:

http://www.transplant.bc.ca/health-info/organ-donation/living-donation