Grueling time on dialysis ends with ultimate gift Organ donor saves star high school athlete who then literally pays it forward to help donation programs A young donor saved two things most important to Tristan Johnson: His life and his ability to play lacrosse. Then the teen turned into a giver himself, helping pay for some of Gift of Life Michigan’s crucial work to grow the Michigan Organ Donor Registry. Both quality of life and lacrosse were in doubt when, as a freshman at Portage Northern High School, Tristan learned his kidneys were failing. Emergency dialysis at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital on Christmas Eve in 2018 was the start of some difficult and frightening months ahead. A diagnosis of the autoimmune disease lupus meant his kidneys were under attack and failing — and his life was tossed into turmoil. Tristan’s high hopes of playing lacrosse with his team that year were destroyed. “My whole world was flipped upside down and I was only 14,” he said. “I spent a lot of that time asking, ‘What’s next?’” What followed was a grueling four months for the Kalamazoo teen. Three days a week, he would wake up at 5 a.m. and head north to Grand Rapids for necessary dialysis to cleanse toxins from his blood before he could return to start his school day. “I spent so much of my time at the hospital. It gave me a new appreciation for life, and that’s when I understood why it’s called the gift of life,” Tristan said. “It’s truly a gift.”
LifeLINES | 2023
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