I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and a restful and not-to-expensive Black Friday. As a result of the 2024 election, for many of us this Thanksgiving rendered even more gratitude and optimism for the future of our nation and our world.
As we launch into the season of giving, I’ve discovered another compassionate soul who is not only giving life but securing another person’s future through an organ donation. Bethany Agee from Alabama is giving one of her kidneys to a teenager whom she does not even know. Agee is the subject of this week’s Feel-Good Friday.
Agee is a 39-year-old tourism marketing professional. She is married to her love Jackson, and they live close to the Gulf in beautiful Foley, Alabama with their animals, which include a beautiful Belgian Malinois named Hollis. You know how I love the dogs.
Agee always had a desire and heart to be a living organ donor. In 2023, she originally responded to the need for a kidney from a woman in my neck of the woods, up north in the Shoals.
This Thanksgiving, a Baldwin County woman is giving a New Hampshire teen something to be thankful for: the gift of life. Bethany Agee is donating a kidney as a living donor.
The selfless gift to a complete stranger she found on social media is a demonstration of true compassion and love for others, and it all started nearly two years ago.
In 2023, the then 38-year-old heard of a North Alabama woman desperately needing a kidney. After discussing the idea with her husband, Jackson, Agee decided to apply to be a donor. She was never matched with the woman in North Alabama, but her desire to help others didn’t end.
A year later, Agee saw another social media post, this one from the mother of a teenager in New Hampshire who reached out to locate someone willing to save her daughter’s life:
“Based on her age, I was like, ‘Man, she shouldn’t be worrying about a kidney,” Agee said of her young recipient. “She should be worrying about having fun and hanging out with her friends and like the next stage of her life.”
After applying and undergoing testing, Agee was informed that she was a direct match.
Agee and her husband will travel to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston at the end of December. The surgery is scheduled for Jan. 7, 2025. They will stay in Boston for three weeks after surgery.
According to UNOS, in 2023, more than 6,900 people became living organ donors, and the kidney is the most common organ that requires living donors for the recipients. While donating any organ is no light thing, removing a healthy kidney carries significant weight. According an interview Agee gave to a local podcast (below), most people asking for living donors are not at the top of any lists because their disease has not progressed to a particular point, and there are more critical cases that require being at the top of donation lists.
Agee explained that after the surgery, her one kidney will never build back to 100 percent, so lifestyle and dietary changes will be necessary to maintain the health of it through her lifetime. Agee also said she has to give up contact sports so as not to risk injury to her only organ. But Agee feels like it was divine providence that she saw that particular post and is able to be the donor that gives this young girl a new lease on her life. And not just the girl’s life, but life and joy to the girl’s family:
“I kind of always just felt like I was supposed to see that post,” she told 1819 News. “I don’t know; I just felt like I was going to give her my kidney even before I was a match.”
Agee will celebrate her 40th birthday in Boston. She hopes she will be able to meet her recipient. In the meantime, she wants the teen and her family to enjoy the holidays, knowing there will be many more to come.
A lengthy stay in Boston is not cheap by any stretch. Agee and her husband Jackson will need money for their flight, as well as for lodging and food for three weeks to cover the surgery and recuperation period. Despite applying to two non-profits with her need, Agee was turned down by both. If you wish to offer help, feel free to reach out to Erica Thomas, the author of the 1819 News article linked above, at [email protected].
Agee recently shared her story and some insights into the journey of donating a kidney on “The Mark White Show” podcast. You can listen to the full episode below [the show begins at 4:47]:
