The Gift of a Lifetime – From One Sister to Another

UH System Update | April 2025

More than 1000,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for a life-saving organ. One local woman found her hope here at home.

When Wilmarie Barreto Vera twirled on the dancefloor at her sister’s wedding last year, no one outside her family would have known that the woman in the sparkling sequined dress received a new kidney from the bride just six months earlier.

This joyous celebration was the culmination of a four-year journey, from discovering she had a disease that attacked a previously healthy organ, to being referred to University Hospitals Transplant Institute for a surgery that would spare her from ongoing dialysis.

Zoe Stewart Lewis, MD, PhD, MPH

“Transplant requires a strong support system, both during the evaluation testing and in the first few months after the transplant, with many doctors’ appointments, medications, and frequent lab testing in order to maintain the good function of their transplant organ,” said Zoe Stewart Lewis, MD, PhD, MPH, UH’s Chief of Transplant and Hepatobiliary Surgery and James A. Schulak, MD, Endowed Director of the UH Transplant Institute. “For Wilmarie and Michelle, the bond between these sisters was just undeniable, and Michelle was a constant support and advocate for Wilmarie throughout the process.”

Early in 2020, Wilmarie moved from Puerto Rico to join her family in Northeast Ohio. Within months of her arrival in Akron, she grew very sick with vomiting and weakness. She went to an ED, worried that she had COVID-19. Tests found she had lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease that can attack one’s organs. Her kidney was functioning at just 10%.

Just 23, this previously healthy woman started dialysis three days a week. Her sister, who would ultimately become her donor, accompanied her to appointments while their mother helped care for Wilmarie’s three young children.  

“Those were difficult times, but I decided to be strong and not give up because I have three kids and a family that needed me strong through the process,” Wilmarie said. “I told them how important it was for me to maintain my treatment so I could feel better for them.”

Wilmarie came to University Hospitals for the new kidney that would vastly improve her life. Kidney transplant should be thought of as a treatment for one’s organ failure rather than a cure, Dr. Stewart explained. For patients with liver, heart, or lung failure, given the lack of life-sustaining medical therapies, transplant is the only real option for long-term survival, she said. But dialysis can offer long-term survival for end-stage kidney disease. Older patients with multiple complex medical co-morbidities must weigh the risk-benefit ratio for surgery.

Given Wilmarie’s young age and lack of comorbidities, she was an ideal transplant candidate. Her younger sister and donor was a healthy woman in her mid-20s who was working as a nursing assistant.  

“I knew I wanted to be my sister’s donor since she was told she would depend on dialysis until she could be on a list for a transplant,” said Michelle, who is two years younger. “I know her like the palm of my hand, of course I could give her a part of me.”

The evaluation of a living kidney donor is highly regulated to ensure donor health and safety. Over a period of six to 18 months, the donor candidate undergoes an extensive battery of imaging studies and lab tests, meeting with a nephrologist, transplant surgeon, social worker, clinical psychologist and an independent living donor advocate before being approved to proceed with donation.

The donor also has access to local and national support programs that can help defray the cost for travel to the transplant center for evaluation testing and surgery, even covering the cost of lost wages due to missed work time. All medical care, including surgery and post-surgery care, is covered by the intended recipient's insurance at no cost to the donor.

Dr. Stewart said the people of the UH Transplant Institute make the program exceptional. She joined UH two years ago from NYU Langone Hospital, where she spent five years building their program into the largest in New York and #1 in the country out of 256 programs for patient outcomes, according to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients. She also spent eight years performing kidney and pancreas transplant surgeries at University of Iowa Hospital and has been actively involved with the national Organ Procurement and Transplant Network since 2009.

UH recently performed its 3,500th kidney transplant and is ranked #11 in the country for kidney transplant.

“Many transplant centers do a great job at the physical process of the transplant, but what truly sets UH apart is our people,” said Dr. Stewart, who believes UH excels at patient education and helping families be a part of the shared medical decision-making. “I continually hear from our patients who have visited other transplant programs how different the UH experience was for them, and it always comes down to how our team makes patients feel heard and genuinely cared about.

“It is so much more than just completing the transplant. Here patients feel that connection and passion that resonates across the Transplant Institute.”

Wilmarie’s recovery was quicker than she expected. She was walking three days after surgery and quickly began feeling stronger. Her health has improved significantly since the transplant.

Wilmarie Barreto Vera, left, received a kidney from her sister, Michelle.

Michelle is thrilled to see her sister returning to the independent lifestyle she once enjoyed. And all she has is a small scar on her abdomen.

“It was a rollercoaster of emotions for years, but the improvement my sister had since the transplant has been amazing and worth it,” said Michelle. “When I saw her dancing on my wedding day, I wanted to cry – she was so weak and could barely walk for years.

“I always knew I wanted to be her donor, and I thank UH for allowing me to accomplish my wish.”

April is National Donate Life Month. More than 100,000 people are on the national transplant organ wait list, and 86% of those are waiting for a kidney. One deceased donor who chooses to give the gift of life at the end of theirs can save as many as eight lives. A single tissue donor who can donate bone, tendons, cartilage, connective tissue, skin, corneas, sclera, and heart valves and vessels can impact the lives of as many as 75 people.

Register to be an organ, eye and tissue donor at Registerme.org.