Zion woman Debby Ramsey celebrates rare 40th anniversary of life-saving kidney transplant, connects with donors’ family

ZION, Ill. (WLS) — A suburban woman is marking 40 years since she had a kidney transplant. The kidney is now 80 years old.

Zion woman Debby Ramsey has spent years wanting to thank the donor’s family, and they finally made contact this spring.

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Ramsey had a party very few people get to have. It’s the 40th birthday of her kidney transplant.

While Ramsey turned 69 a couple weeks ago, she has carried the kidney that saved her life for four decades. Years of life that she has made good use of, raising a large family all thanks to the man who donated his organs after he died.

“Something’s been given to me. I’ve been given a gift,” Ramsey said. “Maybe I can help someone else in their journey.”

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Doctors say kidneys from a living donor generally survive longer than from a deceased donor like Ramsey’s, which typically lasts 10-15 years.

“A pivotal role in the success is Deborah herself. She’s taken such great care of her health and kidney for 40 years now,” Northwestern Medicine transplant nephrologist Dr. Akansha Agrawal said.

Ramsey gives back to the transplant community by volunteering at organ donation events. She also competes in the Transplants Games, where she has won medals for swimming.

She says she tries to spread the message of the critical need for organ donation, and she got to go to her son’s wedding last month.

“It was wonderful and she was here to live it,” her son, Kevin Ramsey, said.

Debby Ramsey says she’s incredibly grateful to her donor and his family. She searched for the donor’s relatives for decades until a search of genealogy records at the Zion-Benton library finally located the donor’s widow in DeKalb County. She sent a thank-you letter her, and they eventually started communicating with each other this spring.

“It took her a while to write back. But she did,” Ramsey said. “It opened some wounds that bring it all back.”

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The donor’s family has been happy to communicate with Ramsey, but they prefer to keep their identity private at this point. Nevertheless, Ramsey says the donor would have turned 80 this year, and she’s determined to continue to honor his life.