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Gift of Life Found in Sports Club

LONE TREE, Colo. –For a pair of Lone Tree Sporting Club workers who became friends, their lives will forever be linked, all because of a donation.

Mimi Kroger contracted Lupus — an illness which caused her immune system to become overactive — some years ago. The illness then attacked her kidneys. While Chemo helped cure the Lupus, her kidneys failed which meant either getting on the kidney donor list and/or going on dialysis. Mimi did both, but the rigors of going in several times a week to have her system “flushed” so to speak proved devastating for a self-described ‘go-go’ person.

“I was like, how can this be happening to me,” said Kroger. “I am a personal trainer and an active mom, who can only wonder how I can improve my life.”

Enter her old manager at the health club, Noell Blevins, who spotted Mimi’s Face Book post whcih merely stated: Spare kidney anyone? As fate would have it, Noell and her husband saw the post and called the donor number only to find out she was a perfect match.

“When Mimi asked me why I would consider giving her one of my kidneys, all I could say was, I have two and only need one to live a healthy life, why wouldn’t I help my friend?” said Blevins.

And that is how it all played out for these women who once worked together and now will be linked as more than friends. As testing continues for both, the hope is the transplant will be successful for both women and their families.