Jenna Lockert donated her kidney to her brother Kyle Deck. Now they're promoting the importance of living donations. (Submitted photo/Jenna Lockert)

By Kenneth Cheung

LIVING ORGAN DONATION

“It’s a selfless act”: Living organ donor saves brother’s life and raises awareness

Sep 12, 2024 | 3:50 PM

“If I had to do it again and I had another kidney to be able to provide, I would do it,” Jenna Lockert said.

In 2014, Lockert donated her kidney to her brother, Kyle Deck. He suffered from IgA nephropathy, also known as Berger’s disease, a condition affecting the kidney and the immune system.

“You would look at him and never know his life was jeopardized,” said Lockert. “If he wouldn’t have had a kidney, we didn’t know what could have potentially happened.”

Lockert, who is from Sedley, SK about 40 kilometres southeast of Regina, and her brother are joining other Canadians in recognizing September 8 to 14 as Living Donation Week and sharing their story to help raise awareness about the critical need for organ donations.

According to the Saskatchewan Health Authority, about 50-60 people are currently waiting for a kidney transplant. On average, they will wait 2.8 years for a kidney – that’s 437 dialysis treatments per person.

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Lockert remembered that their cousin was the first choice for becoming the donor, as Lockert was not suitable due to her pregnancy at the time. However, after the testing process, it turned out that their cousin was not a perfect match.

“That is kind of when I pushed and said, “You know what, can you please just look at me? Just test me. If I’m not, I’m not, then we’ll keep looking. But I ended up being a 99.9 per cent match for my brother,” she said.

After the testing process, she and Deck went to Saskatoon to complete the donation operation. As smooth as the process went, she said she did have concerns about her health before stepping into the surgery room.

“I wanted to have one more child after I went through the organ donation process, and there were potential problems with it. You know, what if I become preeclamptic, diabetic or have any issues because of having a single kidney?” Lockert explained.

Despite the doubts, she said seeing her brother for the first time after the operation made her feel all the pain and worry was completely worth it, as she knew she had made the right move for her and her family.

“It’s a selfless act. I love that my kids have actually seen their mom or have heard that their mom did something for somebody else .”

“It did jeopardize my health a bit at that moment, but the potential knowing that I could help somebody else is teaching people and kids that they can save somebody’s life and to truly just see what they can do,” she said. “It was the best feeling in the world to know that everything went well, the transplant was taken, and my brother was in recovery,” she said.

She emphasized the importance of viewing organ donation from a more positive perspective, as she believes that everyone could potentially save a life one day.

“I wish we had a complete change in shift in how Saskatchewan even looks at organ donation and everybody should just be an organ donor. It’s fine if you don’t want to be a donor but that’s how we should look at reality.”

“I think we’re on the right track, and Saskatchewan has definitely increased its organ donation,” Lockert said.

According to the government, over 30,000 eligible Saskatchewan residents have registered with The Saskatchewan Organ and Tissue Donor Registry.

Both Lockert and Deck are participating in the national ‘Great Actions Leave a Mark’ (GALAM) campaign which helps raise awareness by sharing personal stories of living organ donors, recipients and physicians from Saskatchewan.

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com