Ryan Mclennan of Calgary is now five days post-operation after receiving a kidney donation from an Airdrie man.

Mclennan had been battling kidney failure for a while and with his condition worsening, his wife tried a different approach in their search for a kidney donor. She began posting billboards around Calgary with a plea to find a positive match for her husband. Their prayers were answered when Tony Timmons of Airdrie reached out to Mclennan and told him he was a match.

"You really don't believe it. It's like you won the lottery, is someone playing a joke on me? Is this really real? It's like someone won the lottery and says 'here, I'm giving it to you'. You don't believe that they could do that for you."

Sixteen years ago, Mclennan received a kidney from his mother while he was extremely sick. "I valued that gift from her greatly, but when you get it from someone you don't even know, it just blows you away."

Thanks to the generosity of people like Timmons, Mclennan is on the road to recovery. Despite facing a big journey of recovery, the new kidney is working, his levels are dropping, and he feels better every day. Mclennan is also no longer tied to a machine for up to nine hours a day and is free from chords. He looks forward to being able to one day travel again and start a new chapter.

"Tony is now a brother to me. He's a huge part of my life and I'm thankful everyday for what he's done for me and I love the guy," says Mclennan.

During the entire process of searching for a kidney donor, about half a dozen people came forward and went through the process of getting tested to see if they were a match. Mclennan has decided to pay it forward and give back to those who are struggling with the same issue as he was.

"One of the things we're going to try doing is since we had several donors reach out to us and then we've had about 5-10 recipients contact us as well, we're going to try matching up some people and see what happens. I know what it's like to go through this and not have hope, you kind of lose hope a bit," says Mclennan.

 

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