Scott A. and Kimberlyn J. Meyer met while they both were undergoing dialysis in West Springfield.
It was 2010, and Scott’s birthday.
Scott came into the center, upset that his wife was sick, and Kim reassured him that she would be fine. They became friends.
Two years after they met, Scott was no longer married and it was Eastern States Exposition time. He posted on Facebook that he wanted to go to the Big E, but didn’t have a way to get there. Kim told him she wanted to go, but didn’t have the money.
They shared the fair’s trademark cream puff (Kim never had one before) and had a great time.
The couple has been together ever since that Big E trip. They have been married seven years and live in Holyoke. Kim has six children, and Scott, two. There are seven grandsons, and another on the way.
Today, Scott, 45, and Kim, 54, are both organ donor ambassadors for the nonprofit New England Donor Services, which coordinates organ and tissue donation in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, the eastern counties of Vermont and Bermuda. The organization works with nearly 200 hospitals and screens approximately 50,000 potential donor referrals annually, serving 14 million people in the region.
On April 15, the Meyers were featured at an event at Springfield City Hall to bring awareness to the importance of organ and tissue donation in recognition of National Donate Life Month. They say it’s important to tell their stories to inspire others to sign up to be organ donors.
“We encouraged them to go to the registry and check that yes box (for organ donation) and explained how it impacted our life and how through organ donation we could watch our kids grow up,” Scott said.
“Even now, I get emotional talking about it when I do public speaking. I have somebody else’s organ in me and I’m living because of them,” he said.
Scott connected with the nonprofit when he received his kidney transplant in 2013. He wrote a letter to the donor’s family, letting them know how thankful he was for the donation.
“Everything I’ve accomplished is because somebody gave me the ultimate gift when they were leaving this world,” Scott said.
Kim estimated she has been on dialysis for 20 years. She had a donor kidney, but it failed after three years in March 2021, and she is on the waitlist again. Kim is grateful for the time that the donated kidney gave her — it allowed her to take vacations without worrying about setting up dialysis, and gave her energy to “chase” her grandchildren. Dialysis is very tiring, they explained, and Kim has it three times a week.
Kim said she found out she had kidney disease at age 20, when she was tested after her mother was diagnosed. The type of kidney disease she has is hereditary — polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a condition in which clusters of cysts grow in the body, mainly in the kidneys. The mother of six said the condition worsened after each pregnancy, but she takes care of herself by following her diet and taking her medication. Her mother and sister died from the disease.
Scott said he went to the emergency room for what he thought was a standard urinary tract infection and was told he had stage 3 kidney failure — renal disease.
“Here I am thinking it’s the end of the world,” Scott said.
Scott was diagnosed in 2007, and it took another three years for him to go on dialysis. It was a morning in 2013 when he got the call from Baystate Medical Center telling him they had a kidney for him and needed him at the hospital right away. His kidney was flown in from Ohio. Scott said the doctors thought his kidney disease was brought on by blunt force trauma.
Kim said a lot of people call them for guidance, if they or a relative has to start dialysis.
“It’s just enough to know somebody understands how you feel. It’s why Scott and I understand each other so well,” she said.
The Mass.gov website states people of all ages and medical histories can be an organ and tissue donor, and that one donor can save up to eight lives with organ donation, restore sight to two people through cornea donation and heal more than 75 lives through tissue donation. In addition to the registry, individuals can sign up to be organ donors through the National Donate Life Registry atregisterme.org.
“What is a better gift to give when we’re leaving this world but a chance for somebody to live their life a little bit longer?” Scott said.
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