Longtime WCMH Anchor Colleen Marshall wanted to donate one of her kidney’s to her cousin

Marshall said, “My cousin Karen is on that waiting list. I wanted to be a living donor, giving her one of my kidneys so she could end dialysis and have a normal, healthy life again. But, something unexpected happened when I was tested to be a living kidney donor. Instead of me saving her, she is saving me.”

Turns out, doctors find that Marshall has a blockage that has already cost her 40% of her left kidney’s function.

Now, Marshall will be undergoing surgery to try and repair her kidney and will not be a donor to her cousin.

“We don’t have enough organs for people who need them, so people are dying on a waiting list, waiting to get a kidney or another organ,” said Marshall’s doctor Ronnie Abaza.

Dr. Abaza has performed kidney transplants. He calls them the most fulfilling and satisfying kind of surgery.

“Immediately, they have a huge dramatic change in their life, from having to go to dialysis center three times a week and sit there for hours and just feeling crummy all the time because they are in kidney failure. They really feel like a million bucks right away. Their life changes 180 degrees as soon as they get a kidney transplant. So, it really is the best thing that somebody can do for another human being is to donate a kidney,” said Abaza.

Marshall will be off the air for a bit while she recovers.