Teen Dancer Receives Sister’s kidney in Seattle children’s 250th Living Donor Milestone
USA: Seventeen-year-old Mary Head, long diagnosed with cystinosis since infancy, has received a life-changing kidney transplant from her older sister, Audrey, in a living donor procedure that marked the 250th such pediatric transplant at Seattle children’s Hospital. Mary’s rare genetic condition had progressively led to kidney failure and chronic eye problems that required frequent medication, and the transplant was pursued after years of mounting symptoms and fatigue that interfered with her daily life and dancing.
Mary began showing signs of organ failure years ago, describing exhaustion and body aches that lingered for days after physical activity. She was diagnosed with cystinosis at nine months of age, a condition noted to affect both kidneys and eyesight and to demand intensive ongoing care. Audrey, 23 and living in Oklahoma with her husband, emerged as the best match and volunteered to donate a kidney without hesitation, framing the choice as a family commitment and a way to help her sister regain normal energy.
The operations took place at two institutions: Mary’s transplant surgery occurred at Seattle children’s Hospital while Audrey’s donor procedure was performed at UW Medicine. The event was highlighted by Dr. Andre Dick, the hospital’s surgical director for kidney transplants, as both a clinical milestone and a demonstration of improved outcomes from living donor transplantation. He pointed to decades of progress in surgical methods, immunosuppression regimens, and coordinated postoperative care that can allow patients to leave the hospital in as little as five to seven days.
Days after the surgeries the sisters reunited and began recovery together. Mary is recuperating at home, already aiming to return to jazz, lyrical and ballet with renewed stamina and planning to study pediatric nursing after high school to give back to the care teams who helped her. Audrey encourages others considering donation to weigh individual circumstances but says her experience reaffirmed the profound benefit it can bring to a loved one.
