John Beers was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease at age 25. As an avid mountain climber and backpacker who still worked full time, failing kidneys and dialysis three times a week made life very difficult. That all changed in August 2005, when five years on the waiting list ended with a kidney transplant. Two years after his transplant, John joined his sons to climb Mt. Whitney, where he made it to 12,000 feet. Said the two-time Donate Life Ambassador of the Year for OneLegacy, "I received my second chance at a new life thanks to the generosity of my donor family."

John's Story

When he was six years old, John Beers' dad died of polycystic kidney disease (PKD). John was the third of seven children raised alone by his mother.

Twenty years later, John's oldest sister was diagnosed with PKD and their family participated in a study at the University of Washington. They learned that five of the seven siblings had the disease. Realizing that PKD was the cause of his dad's death at 46 years of age, John said, "It struck me that if I only lived to be my dad's age; I had already lived half my life."

John was an avid backpacker and mountain climber and had made several 100-plus mile trips. At age 51 and in the best physical shape he had been since high school, he climbed Mt. Rainer and Mt. Saint Helens in Washington as well as Mt. Shasta and Mt. Whitney in California. Five years later, John sometimes had trouble walking around the block on flat ground because his kidneys had failed.

By the time he was 55, John's kidney function deteriorated to the point that he was placed on the transplant waiting list. John made it one more year before he was so sick that he had to go on dialysis, but he continued working as the Construction and Facilities Manager for the Wall Street Journal's 17 printing plants. He had to travel for work, so he would make dialysis reservations in addition to flight and car reservations.

Dialysis four hours a day, three days a week was a dramatic lifestyle change for John. A year into dialysis, his kidneys were so large that he could hardly bend over to tie his shoes. John's transplant surgeon recommended removing them so there would be room for the transplant. The two kidneys tipped the scale at 22 pounds. For John's last three years on dialysis, the machine was all that kept him alive.

Five years after going on the waiting list, John received his lifesaving kidney, and two years later, John joined his sons to climb Mt. Whitney, where he made it to 12,000 feet.

Four years post-transplant, John met his donor's husband. "I was able to finally thank him in person for the family's decision to donate Carol's organs," said the two-time Donate Life Ambassador of the Year for OneLegacy. "I received my second chance at a new life thanks to the generosity of my donor family."