Transplant Games Of America To Highlight Former Teacher And Living Kidney Donor From Team Rocky Mountain

Former Teacher Reclaims Life After kidney transplant Thanks To Community Donor

USA: Denver will host the Transplant Games of America later this month, and one local story has become a rallying point for the event. Andrew Menard, a former fourth‑grade teacher and leader of Team Rocky Mountain, received a kidney after inheriting polycystic kidney disease from his father and seeing his kidney function fall to the single digits. The living donor match came after a community campaign, and Menard is now training for his fifth Transplant Games appearance.

The transplant has shifted Menard’s life from daily illness to competition; he’s chosen middle‑distance racing and is rediscovering the physicality that once seemed out of reach. His recovery and preparation for the Games underscore the clinical and personal arc of transplantation — from diagnosis and matching through surgery and rehabilitation — and the teamwork between recipient, donor, clinicians and community that makes it possible.

The donor, Jen Machado, decided to move forward after recognizing she was a compatible match for a student’s former teacher who had been part of her children’s school community. She had been reluctant to tell her story at first but chose to share it to encourage others to consider living donation. Their partnership illustrates how a single living donor can transform a recipient’s trajectory and highlights the human side of organ donation amid medical systems that enable matches and surgery.

Organizers say the Transplant Games are more than medals; they are a platform for connection, education and celebrating the possibilities after transplantation. Menard and Machado plan to attend the Denver event this month to honor organ donation, promote living donation and show what rehabilitation and renewed life can look like after a kidney transplant.

Video originally published on 2026-06-03 21:17:08