Laura Broadnax
Cascade, VA

Laura Broadnax, Cascade, VA, had a kidney transplant in 1997. Her son, Quran, youngest of three, was the donor. His mother was constantly ailing throughout his childhood, hampering her ability to care for her three boys the way she wanted to. When the time came to do something dramatic for her, Quran didn't hesitate.

"We were supposed to have the operation a year earlier, but she got real sick," he said. "I didn't think she was going to make it through Christmas." No wonder he was scared. His mother dropped from 182 to almost 90 pounds. But she did not give in. Her faith kept her strong when her body seemed it would give out.

"I decided I wasn't going into it with a negative attitude." It paid off. "When they put the new kidney in, it went to work just like that," she said, snapping her fingers.

A year later, her energy level was higher than it had been in years. She even mowed the lawn, much to her own amazement.

Dr. Michael Rohr, chief of transplantation surgery, has performed more than 900 of the 1,235 kidney transplants done at the Medical Center