For Darvece Monson, her life-saving kidney transplant was a bittersweet gift she will never forget.
It has only been a couple of weeks since Monson received her transplant and everything is going well, but Monson knows that her life was saved by a senseless tragedy in Chicago that left an 11-year-old girl killed.
“Knowing that my donor was a victim of senseless violence and she saved 11 lives, the scale has been reached,” Monson said Monday.
In February, 11-year-old Takiya Holmes was shot in the city, one of three child shooting victims in a matter of days. Holmes died days after her shooting, but she managed to save the lives of nearly a dozen others, including her own relative – Monson, who had been waiting for a kidney transplant since finding out she had stage five renal failure two years ago.
“Everything changed immediately,” Monson said. “It was a perfect match. I am still just shocked.”
A little less than a year before her transplant, Monson started the More Than Your Kidneys foundation, which helps those dealing with kidney disease.
With the beautiful gift from a cherished 11-year-old girl, Monson said she will not only fight for those dealing with kidney disease, but also much more.
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“I’ve always been campaigning strong for various causes and not because they directly affect me but because they affect us all indirectly,” she said. “And I am never going to stop with that.”
