College student receives a life-saving transplant after a stranger offers her kidney in the comments of a TikTok video
- A student with an incurable kidney disease found a donor on TikTok
- Katie Hallum called her donor her “hero” and the two have become friends
- READ MORE: Pig kidney transplanted into a human took TWO MONTHS
An Oklahoma student received a kidney transplant after a donor reached out in her TikTok comments.
Katie Hallum, a student at the University of Oklahoma, was diagnosed with the incurable kidney disease IGA nephropathy when she developed kidney failure and suffered a severe seizure.
Last summer, she posted a video to her TikTok account with the caption: “POV: I hear you say you have blood type O and healthy kidneys.” The lyrics played over the sound: “You have something I want.”
Savannah Stallbaumer, another student, came across the video and offered her own kidney in the comments.
She wrote: ‘Yes, I really want to know. I’m on the list to donate bone marrow, but not… organs! I’d like to give you a kidney!’
Savannah Stallbaumer offered her kidney to Katie Hallum after commenting on Ms Hallum’s TikTok video about her rare kidney condition
Ms Hallum wrote on Facebook: ‘Words will never be enough to express the depth of my feelings for your sacrifice. You saved my life. You once told me that you worked to become a nurse because you wanted to be someone’s hero, but I can tell you now that you are already mine.”
Ms Hallum wrote on Facebook: ‘I couldn’t believe it when she first suggested it. In fact, I outright ignored her at first. I couldn’t imagine someone I just met being so determined to save my life, but she persisted.
“Even then, I refused to get my hopes up on the likelihood that she would even be my match. Against all odds, she was.”
The two became friends before they even knew if Ms. Stallbaumer would be a match. However, once the match was confirmed, she surprised Mrs Hallum with the news while out for dinner with family.
‘It was very emotional. Other people were also crying in the restaurant watching it,” Ms. Stallbaumer told the local news station KOCO news 5.
IGA nephropathy, also known as Berger disease, occurs when the germ-fighting protein immunoglobulin A (IgA) builds up in the kidneys, resulting in inflammation that makes it difficult for the kidneys to filter waste from the body.
The condition is progressive and patients often do not notice symptoms for ten or more years.
When symptoms do occur, according to the Mayo Clinic, they include blood in the urine, foamy urine, pain on one or both sides of the back, swelling in the hands and feet, high blood pressure and fatigue.
IGA nephropathy is extremely rare, occurring in 2.5 in 100,000 people annually. In some cases, such as Ms Hallum’s, this can lead to kidney failure, which is fatal if left untreated.
On August 17, 2023, Ms. Stalbaumer donated her kidney to Ms. Hallum. Both women have successfully recovered from the surgeries.
However, one risk associated with organ transplants is the possibility of the recipient rejecting the new organ, but Ms Hallum has reported no problems so far.
Ms Hallum wrote on Facebook: ‘We only became friends in the past year, yet she already means so much to me.
“A trusted confidante, someone I can laugh with, a person I can gossip with, someone I admire for working so hard, and most importantly, she’s the girl who saved my life.
“Words will never be enough to express the depth of my feelings for your sacrifice. You saved my life. You once told me that you worked as a nurse because you wanted to be someone’s hero, but I can tell you now that you are already mine.”