Man who donated kidney to wife now on receiving end of organ transplant

ST. PETERS, Mo. (KMOV/Gray News) - A couple was joined by more than just their marriage vows when a Missouri man gave his wife the gift of life by donating a kidney. Decades later, he found himself in need of a transplant.

“Me and my wife met on a blind date, got married shortly after, then we found out she needed a kidney,” recalled Dan Walker. “I got tested and was a close enough match, so I donated a kidney to her.”

Dan and Janice Walker were married for 29 years.

The donated kidney eventually developed cancer and had to be removed. Earlier this year, she suffered a heart attack and was in the ICU for 25 days before dying on March 17.

“I was blessed to have her with with me for those years, and I just can’t be bitter about anything, you know?” her husband said.

He kept the positive attitude, even when the one kidney he had left started wearing out.

A few weeks ago, Dan Walker got the call that they had found a kidney. But, at the last minute, it didn’t work out.

“I’m sure the kidney went somewhere else, or it wasn’t meant to be,” he said.

On Sept. 30, he got a call for a second time and received a new kidney on Oct. 1.

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