Olivia Fox gave her mom, Monica Fox—the woman who brought her into the world—a second shot at life, cementing the special bond between mother and daughter.
Monica’s health struggles started back in 2013. She thought it was just a bad sinus infection, but things quickly got serious. She was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease and needed to start dialysis right away.
Monica first got a new kidney back in 2016, and things were going well until 2022 when COVID pneumonia meant she suddenly needed another one. This put her in the tough spot of having to go through a transplant for a second time.
“I was hopeful because I knew there was the opportunity to get a transplant and that that would be a better treatment for me,” Monica Fox told Fox32 Chicago. “Many people came forward to offer to be living donors, and each one didn’t pan out, but that would always give me hope that God had not forgotten me and that my gift was coming.”
“Dialysis, unfortunately, is a risky place to be,” Dr. Enrico Benedetti from UI Health told the outlet. “In the US to this day, only 40 % of people will be alive five years while on dialysis. Worse than many cancers.”
Olivia, Monica’s daughter, was evaluated in 2015 as a potential kidney donor for her mother, as an immediate family member is typically the best match.
“It was just before I graduated from college,” Olivia recounted. “I hadn’t started my own life and started a family yet, so though it would have been a good option. I think back then my mom did not want to receive from me back then.”
Oliva wasn’t just a match; her professional role as a Transplant Outreach Coordinator at the University of Illinois Hospital meant she was already intimately familiar with the donation process.
“This was kind of just my chance to really put my kidney where my mouth is and like do exactly what I’ve been telling people is such a good thing,” Olivia stated. “And now I’m living proof. I’m living proof that, you know, this works.”
A successful transplant significantly extends the recipient’s life expectancy, doubling it from 40% to approximately 81%. When the organ comes from a living donor, that increases life expectancy to up to 93% in five years.
Earlier last month, Monica received a second kidney transplant, a life-saving gift from her daughter, Olivia. The surgery was performed by Dr. Ivo Tzvetanov, Chief of Transplant Surgery at UI Health. Monica is immensely grateful for her daughter’s generosity.
READ ALSO: Here’s how a woman’s decision to donate a kidney saved her own life
“She underwent surgery for the sole purpose of saving my life,” said Monica. “You know, afterwards, she has not been feeling very well, but she’s getting better day by day, doing everything she has to do to feel better. But she said, even in her sickest moments, she said, ‘Mom, I would do it all over again for you.’”
Even though it was tough, Olivia said she will do it again in a heartbeat.
“You’re not back to yourself the next couple of days,” said Olivia. “But it’s worth it. I would do it again for my mother to give her this result, to make her feel the way that she is feeling now. I mean, I would go through anything to give her that, so I’m grateful for what I’ve been able to do.”
Thanks to the kidney donation from her daughter, Olivia, Monica is now thriving. She has become a transplant advocate and serves as the Senior Director of Outreach at the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois. Monica has also been recognized for her advocacy, receiving an award for her efforts in getting federal legislation passed that ensures that Medicaid covers immunosuppressant medications for transplant recipients for longer than the initial three years.
