Diagnosed with diabetes at 21 years old, Katrina Thompson did her best to care for herself, despite inadequate insurance coverage, while also caring for her family as a single mother. After 17 years of managing as best she could, she found herself facing kidney failure, a consequence of uncontrolled diabetes and hypertension. When her nephrologist first mentioned that she might be a candidate for transplant, her mind went blank. "I was petrified, just petrified," Katrina remembers. "But when I was 40 years old, they put me on the transplant list."

At any time, nearly 1,000 Kentuckians await a lifesaving organ transplant. Without donors, organ transplantation is not possible. To learn more or to register as a donor, please visit donatelifeky.org.