Time Honors Young Author Who Urges Kidney Donation After Father’s Transplant As 11 Are Lost From Waiting List Daily

13-Year-Old Author Naomi DeBerry Champions kidney transplant Awareness After Father’s Donation

USA: Naomi DeBerry, 13, has turned a family medical crisis into a public campaign for kidney transplantation after her father, Jarvis DeBerry, received a life-saving kidney from a cousin. Naomi chronicled the ordeal in her illustrated book My Daddy Needs a Gift and spent a recent school visit in Baton Rouge reading to students at Thrive Academy to explain organ donation and recovery.

The book traces Jarvis DeBerry’s battle with kidney disease, the transplant surgery and his rehabilitation, aiming to demystify transplantation for young readers and their families. Naomi credits reading and writing with pulling her through the anxiety and isolation during the COVID-19 era, and she said those experiences shaped her mission to motivate donor registration and awareness.

Naomi’s advocacy has drawn international attention: Time magazine named her one of its 10 Girls of the Year for 2025, the only honoree from the United States. The recognition has brought new opportunities and challenges, and Naomi has embraced the platform to talk about mental health, resilience, and a future career goal—to become a transplant surgeon who helps others the way physicians helped her father.

Organ advocates note that many people remain on waiting lists for kidneys and that, on average, 11 people die every day while waiting for a transplant. Naomi’s book and community appearances, organized locally by Cultural Crossroads and the Baton Rouge chapter of the Links Incorporated, are intended to change that calculus. Copies and more information are available at naomicreatesjoy.com.

Video originally published on 2026-05-18 07:51:36