Jennalee Lundquist considers herself lucky, but she still serves as a reminder to you about the importance of living organ donation. 

Lundquist, the Program Director of Senior Life Solutions at Door County Medical Center, was the featured speaker of this year’s Donate Life ceremony held in front of the hospital on Wednesday afternoon. Lundquist reflected on her organ donation experience over a decade ago when she donated her kidney to a close family relative so she could live a better life. Because polycystic kidney disease runs in her family, there have been more than sixteen kidney donations among relatives since the mid-1970s.

After having to postpone the procedure because of her pregnancy, Lundquist and her father’s cousin Becky went under the knife in 2012 for a kidney transplant. While Lundquist adjusted to life with one kidney, she was happy that her deed helped give Becky a new lease on life after living with the disorder that caused her kidneys to become riddled with cysts and balloon to the size of small infants.

Lundquist hopes her story inspires others to become organ donors, whether it helps save a life while you are living or after you are gone. April is National Donate Life Month, which raises awareness about organ, eye, and tissue donation in the country.