“My aunt had a kidney transplant more than 30 years ago, when she was in her early 20’s,” says Carlson, a second-year Master of Divinity student at North Park Theological Seminary. “In the back of all of our minds there was the understanding that it wouldn’t last forever.”
Carlson had not foreseen, however, that one day she would donate a kidney to her aunt, Karla Hanson. But that is what she did last December.
“A few years ago, my aunt mentioned that she was ‘going back on the list’, meaning she was at the point where she needed to be ready for another kidney transplant,” says Carlson, who grew up attending Moose Lake Covenant Church in Moose Lake, Minnesota.
Ultimately, donating her own kidney to her aunt was a decision that Carlson didn’t think twice about. “I think I had made the decision that I wanted to donate before I knew if I would be able to,” she says.
When Carlson saw her aunt during Christmas of 2007, she witnessed firsthand the debilitating effects of a deteriorating kidney. So last spring, she began the process of becoming a donor.
“I started talking with friends and family about the whole idea and asked what they thought,” says Carlson, who got tested to see if she was a match. “I remember waiting for a phone call to hear about the results, hoping and praying that we’d be a match. After hearing that we were, I had to go through an extensive physical and more testing to see if I was healthy enough to donate.”
When Carlson received the go ahead and the surgery date was set for December 12, she admits, “I felt both relief and a little anxiety.” Fortunately, not only was the surgery itself successful, but her aunt’s body also accepted the transplant. Carlson, too, has since made a full recovery.
There was no doubt that Carlson was physically fit enough. She played for the North Park University softball team (2003-2005) and hit a home run in her first collegiate at-bat. “Coach (Dan) Gooris always introduces me to people saying ‘you know at her first college at-bat, Pam hit a home run,’” says Carlson. “Yes I did, but the irony is that I didn’t hit another home run for the rest of my softball career at NPU.”
Besides, Carlson says emphatically that when it comes to being a kidney donor and giving her aunt a better quality of life, “This has been more incredible than hitting that home run.”
Carlson attended Covenant Bible College in Colorado and worked at Covenant Bible College prior to attending the university and seminary. She currently attends Immanuel Covenant Church in Chicago.
