Stars Align to Bring Kidney Donor and Recipient Together

Celebrating National Donate Life Month at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health

In one day, Aubrey Brazier, age 15, went from perfectly healthy to suddenly needing a kidney transplant. She was living her best life as a sophomore in high school when she underwent a sports physical for the bowling team. During the exam, the doctor discovered extremely high blood pressure.

“It was heart attack or stroke level high,” says Aubrey.

Because she had no history of high blood pressure or any other medical condition, her mother immediately took her to a hospital near their home in Las Vegas for more tests, which revealed stage four kidney failure. “It all happened so quickly. We were like, ‘What? How can this be?’ Her life changed overnight,” says her mom, Tiffany.

Donor kidneys are not easily available, and finding one for Aubrey was even harder. She required a rare donor match because she was highly sensitized, meaning her body would reject most donors’ organs. Normally, finding such a match can take several months or even years.

Hope came in the form of Sumi Wideman, a neonatal intensive care nurse who lived thousands of miles away in California. Everything lined up just right to bring Sumi and Aubrey together.

“It was divine, and we are so grateful for Sumi’s compassion and kindness, and for the entire team at Stanford Children’s Pediatric Transplant Center,” Tiffany says.

Coming to Stanford Children’s for kidney transplant care

Tiffany, Aubrey, and Sumi

Aubrey’s local nephrologist made Tiffany aware of several pediatric kidney transplant programs, and after one phone call, she knew she wanted Aubrey to go to Stanford Medicine Children’s Health—one of the top programs in the nation. The Stanford Children’s Pediatric Transplant Center is No. 1 in the United States in kidney transplant volumes for children 18 years and younger.

Once evaluated at Stanford Children’s, Aubrey was listed with the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), which tracks organ donation across the country. Her kidneys were barely functioning, but luckily they were working well enough that she didn’t need dialysis.

Aubrey and Tiffany returned home to wait for that life-changing call that a donor organ had been found, surrounded by loving friends and family, including her two older brothers. Less than six months later, Gerri James, RN, BSN, transplant coordinator, called. She told Tiffany, “I don’t have a kidney from UNOS (the deceased donor pool), but I have a stranger who wants to donate.”

“I was so surprised and speechless, because it was so unexpected. My heart was overjoyed. I thought, who is this person and how has it been put on their heart to want to do this? I cried and thanked God,” Tiffany says.

Needing a very rare and special donor

Thomas Pham, MD, surgical director of Pediatric Kidney Transplant at Stanford Children’s, knew it would be a challenge to find Aubrey a good match. “Aubrey has the most difficult blood type to match, and she had developed antibodies against 85% of the population.”

She received several deceased donor offers from UNOS, but they were incompatible, so when Sumi stepped forward, the kidney transplant care team thought of the National Kidney Registry’s Paired Kidney Exchange. It’s an ingenious system where a person who is incompatible with you donates a kidney on your behalf to someone else in exchange for a compatible kidney for you. The exchange widens the pool and helps doctors find more precise matches, which was crucial for Aubrey. A good match lowers the risk of rejection and potential side effects and helps the kidney last much longer.

Stanford Children’s is very thoughtful about personalizing kidney donation to each individual’s needs to achieve good outcomes. They think beyond the transplant itself and consider quality of life and the big picture for years to come.

“Every child will need more kidney transplants in the future, but we want the first to be such good quality that they don’t need one for a long way down the road,” Dr. Pham says.

All kidney donations, including from deceased donors, are wonderful gifts. However, research shows living donor kidneys tend to last longer.

“Sumi was originally planning to donate to a friend’s child, but another match was found. At that point, a lot of people might stop the process, but she still wanted to donate. That’s an incredible gift,” says Marc Melcher, MD, PhD, chief of Abdominal Transplantation at Stanford Children’s.

There are about 100,000 people and 1,200 children on the U.S. waiting list for a kidney, according to Paul Grimm, MD, Aubrey’s pediatric nephrologist. In 2024, only 827 children received a kidney transplant in the U.S., according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. Most children get a kidney in one to two years, but for those who are sensitized, like Aubrey, they will wait much longer.

Donating to a complete stranger as a living donor

When asked to consider donating one of her kidneys to her friend’s son, Sumi was all in. When that fell through, she recalls thinking, ‘It doesn’t have to be him. I can help another child.’

“It didn’t seem like a big decision. If my child needed a kidney, I would hope someone would come forward,” she says.

Sumi downplays her donation, saying that Stanford Children’s made it easy by scheduling her evaluation on one day and running the operation smoothly. She wonders why more people don’t donate.

“I’ve had surgery before, so it wasn’t very nerve-racking. The hospital is top of the line, and everyone was great. I was walking around and driving within a few weeks, and I didn’t have hardly any pain,” she says. Living kidney donors typically do not have any future restrictions besides taking good care of their remaining kidney.

According to the National Kidney Registry, 6,000 people donate a kidney in the United States every year. Of those, only 5% donate to strangers. They’re called Good Samaritan donors—the perfect name for Sumi.

“I just think that we need to put more good in the world,” she says. She recalls noticing how some people were uncaring toward others during the COVID-19 pandemic. “That bothered me. I thought if I did something kind, it might negate some of that. Giving my kidney to Aubrey helped heal that for me.”

Undergoing a successful kidney transplant

The two had their transplant surgeries on the same day. Sumi’s kidney was rushed to a waiting patient across the country, and Aubrey’s kidney was waiting for her from another generous donor. The surgeries went without a hitch. Stanford Children’s offers minimally invasive surgery to most kidney donors, helping to reduce recovery time and scarring.

While the transplant surgery is important, empowering families and children to care for their new kidney afterward is just as important. Tiffany is extremely grateful for the thorough pretransplant prep the family received beforehand and the support they are receiving still today.

“At Stanford Children’s, it is not just the surgeons and pretransplant preparation that are great, it is also the posttransplant care—our advanced practice practitioners who live and breathe transplant, the nutritionists, and how we collaborate with local doctors,” Dr. Grimm says. “It all adds up to why our kidney transplant outcomes are always one of the top in the nation.”

Tiffany (mother of patient) meets Sumi, who helped get a kidney for her daughter’s transplant

Meeting her kidney donor

Aubrey, Tiffany, and Sumi are no longer strangers. Aubrey wanted to meet the generous donor who changed her life so completely. The big day came when both returned for a follow-up visit shortly after surgery.

“There was not a dry eye in the clinic,” Gerri James says. “Even though Sumi’s kidney went to someone else, we all say Aubrey has Sumi’s kidney.”

The two shared a full-circle moment when Aubrey realized that Sumi was a nurse—something she wants to be when she grows up. She had asked her mom right beforehand, “Wouldn’t it be cool if she is a nurse?”

Sumi and her husband

“It was wonderful to meet Aubrey,” Sumi says. “She is so kind and bubbly, and I see her making a difference in the world. It feels good to know that she can have a healthy future and do what she wants in life.”

The families stay in touch via social media. Tiffany messages Sumi to give her updates, like “Hey, Aubrey started her first job” or “Her biopsy turned out well.”

“I want her to know about Aubrey’s life and the immense impact she has had on our lives,” Tiffany says. “Words can’t begin to describe how incredibly thankful and grateful we are for the gracious gift Sumi has given. Her kindness and selflessness has given Aubrey a second chance at life.”

Sumi and her family

Taking on life after kidney transplant

Aubrey is back to full speed, just how she likes it. She is now a junior in high school, working at her first job, hanging out with friends, and serving at church in the media and children’s ministry.

“I definitely have much more energy and a better quality of life than I had before the transplant,” Aubrey says. “I can do almost everything I want, and my faith and perspective on life has changed. Now, I take life more seriously, and I am treating my body well so my kidney will last the most years it can.”

She dreams of becoming a nurse, living a healthy life, having a family of her own one day, and going to Morocco soon with her family, a trip made possible by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. She’s also excited to go to Transplant Camp this summer through Stanford Children’s.

Sumi recalls reading that organ donors are left with a feeling of well-being. “It’s really true. I feel good all the time. By donating, I also received a gift,” she says.