Amanda McCowen never expected to be close to Angela Maples, the woman married to her ex-husband. But when Angela needed a kidney, Amanda gave her one \u2014 turning a complicated past into an extraordinary act of generosity.<\/p>\n
When Joshua Maples, father of Amanda\u2019s two children, remarried, Amanda braced herself for tension. \u201cAutomatically upon meeting her, I had formed this thing in my mind \u2014 \u2018I\u2019m just not going to like her,\u2019\u201d\u00a0Amanda\u00a0said. \u201cThese are my children, and I\u2019m not going to share them with anybody.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over a decade of co-parenting, however, that friction softened. Shared responsibilities \u2014 school events, soccer games, and holiday schedules \u2014 gradually built trust. \u201cWe started off just doing what was in the best interest of our children, but it turned into a genuine, caring relationship,\u201d Angela said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That bond was tested \u2014 and ultimately strengthened \u2014 when Angela was diagnosed with renal failure. Facing long, grueling dialysis sessions and a life on hold, she needed a kidney. Without hesitation, Amanda stepped forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Oct.\u00a013, both women underwent transplant surgery at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth. Now recovering, they share their story to encourage others to consider living-kidney\u00a0donations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
More than 100,000 Americans are waiting for lifesaving organ transplants, and about 86 percent need a kidney, according to Donate Life America.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day, thousands wait for a kidney transplant, but the number of available donors falls heartbreakingly short,\u201d said Eric Siskind, M.D., a transplant surgeon with Texas Health Surgical Specialists. \u201cLiving donors aren\u2019t just giving an organ \u2014 they\u2019re giving time, hope, and a second chance at life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since 1986, Texas Health Fort Worth has performed 1,361 kidney transplants, including 200 from living donors like Amanda. Kidneys from living donors typically function immediately, last longer, and shorten the wait compared with deceased-donor transplants.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Robyn Dye, the hospital\u2019s transplant program administrator, called the donation \u201ctruly inspiring.\u201d While the program has seen mothers give kidneys to their children\u2019s teachers and patients donate to strangers, she said, \u201cto our knowledge, this is the first time we\u2019ve had someone provide a kidney to the spouse of an ex. Their relationship shows how compassion can transcend the past.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Joshua Maples sees a higher power at work in his family\u2019s story. \u201cTheir relationship has grown tremendously through this,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s taught me a lot about love and forgiveness.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Amanda, the decision to donate was both simple and profound. Watching Angela endure 14-hour dialysis sessions gave her a new perspective on life\u2019s small blessings. \u201cOn a daily basis, we grumble about \u2018We\u2019ve got to go to this event after school\u2019 or \u2018I\u2019ve got to stop at the grocery store,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cBut these are things she was praying to even be able to do again. It was very, very humbling.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Angela now sees their story as a testament to love, faith, and the human capacity for grace. She encourages anyone awaiting a kidney transplant to reach out \u2014 you never know who might step forward.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe literally saved my life,\u201d Angela said. \u201cIf I can give just a little bit of hope to the hopeless and a little bit of faith to the faithless and inspire some courage, then I\u2019ve done my job.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amanda McCowen never expected to be close to Angela Maples, the woman married to her ex-husband. But when…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":418623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,13959,7371,7372,9730,14467,195911,8172,1087,358,195910,7453,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-418622","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-families","10":"tag-fort-worth","11":"tag-fortworth","12":"tag-fwtx-staff","13":"tag-health-and-wellness","14":"tag-kidney-transplants","15":"tag-medical-condition","16":"tag-relationships","17":"tag-texas","18":"tag-texas-health-care","19":"tag-top-story","20":"tag-tx","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115647892951557221","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}