SHELBY TWP, Mich. (WXYZ) — It has been seven years since a Shelby Township organ donor saved a father's life. We talked to Emily Polet-Monterosso in 2022, after she climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise awareness of life after donation surgery. Thousands of Michiganders are still in desperate need of a new organ, and now, Emily is preparing for another big climb.
Watch Evan's full story below
A few more reps never hurt, especially when they're in preparation for a massive hike through steep gorges.
"We're descending and ascending at like 7,000 feet," Polet-Monterosso said.
Polet-Monterosso describes it as going up and down miles and miles worth of stairs in one day, all in the Grand Canyon. She is part of a group of kidney donor athletes whose mission is to show the world that living organ donors can do anything.
"(We're going to) drive through the heels directly to the green line," Polet-Monterosso said. “We do at least one big advocacy climb per year, Kilimanjaro, volcano climbs in Guatemala."
Watch our previous coverage
One donation was enough to save Ryan Stanford's life in 2019. She said the father of three was facing a challenging future.
“He would have likely languished on dialysis for 5 years before dying," Polet-Monterosso told me.
Dr. Rohini Prashar is the Medical Director for Henry Ford's kidney transplant program. She said the wait for a deceased donor kidney is 2-5 years, and many people simply do not have that time.
“5-7% of people die waiting for that kidney that never comes," Dr. Prashar said. "Living donation changes that paradigm; with living donation, there's practically no wait time.”
But, Prashar said just 20% of kidney and liver transplants are living donations. She attributes multiple factors to that.
“There’s lost wages, there’s travel, there's child care," Prashar said.
When it comes to the actual surgery, Prashar said medical advancements have made it safer than ever.
“Minimally invasive, either laparoscopic or robotic, that leaves you with smaller incisions and a very quick recovery," Dr. Prashar said.
Recent studies from the Journal of the American Medical Association show those techniques have lowered the risk of death associated with kidney donation to just 0.03 percent.
"I think Emily's story is a perfect example of how people can not only make change, positive change in other people's lives, they can add decades to someone's life, and yet live a long, fulfilling life with no limitations and a physically active life as well," Dr. Prashar said.
“If you don't have any major health concerns and you're a person who cares about the people around you, it's worth considering," Polet-Monterosso said.
If you would like to join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry, you can do so at this link.
Watch our full interview with Dr. Rohini Prashar below
