NORMAL, IL (Chambana Today) — During National Donate Life Month, an Illinois mother is sharing her journey through kidney failure, organ donation and a renewed life made possible by a stranger’s generosity.
April Post of Normal has faced kidney disease for much of her life. After receiving a transplant as a teenager, she lived nearly two decades before experiencing kidney failure again as an adult — this time while raising her young daughter as a single mother.
Post spent nearly five years on dialysis, relying on support from her family and church community at College Park Church in Normal. “They helped me with my daughter, helped me financially every once in a while, if I needed help, just prayed with me, yeah.”
Her path changed when a friend encouraged her to share her story online. That video reached Kelly Stogner, who felt an immediate connection and chose to pursue living donation. “I could see myself in her and I could see her as a mom, making the best of a situation that she had no control over and just wanting to live the best life she could for herself and her daughter, and I thought if I could help, why wouldn’t I?”
Stogner ultimately proved to be a match, and the transplant was performed in 2019 at OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria.
She described the experience positively, including her recovery. “I was treated, I feel, like a princess in the hospital. Everyone was very kind and came to check on me to make sure everything was going very well. I had a great experience.”
As for the procedure itself, she added it was “one of the easiest things I’ve ever done.”
For Post, the results were immediate and life changing. “I had so much energy and I was so hungry. When I was on dialysis, I had no appetite. I could hardly eat anything. [After surgery] I was so hungry and so energized. It was awesome.”
Now fully recovered, Post has returned to school, graduated near the top of her class, and works as a case manager while raising her teenage daughter. She says the transplant gave her a second chance at life — and a future with her family.