Kidney donation saves life of former University of Colorado athlete
John Arlen Stussy was 27 years old when he was placed on life support due to a suicide attempt and eventually passed away. Little did his sister know, by donating his organs, he would save the life of multiple people, one man in particular by the name of Elan Edwards. Elan Edwards attended high school at Boulder High and then went on to earn a football scholarship to play at the University of Colorado. Eventually, he moved to Brigham Young and ended his career there. While he was attending CU, it was discovered that his kidneys were exerting too much protein. His kidneys were not failing, so they believed it was just an abnormality and therefore swept it under the rug. It wasn’t until he was 27 when he went to the doctor for something completely unrelated where they discovered the worst. He had high blood pressure and his kidneys were in fact failing. Stunned, doctors told him that with a proper diet and medication that he would be able to live for two more years. In the meantime, he was put on the list to receive a new kidney. His aunt, Audrey Moller, graciously donated a kidney to Edwards in 2007. Initially, he was able to get back to his normal active life and even ran triathlons, but it wasn’t until a year ago when they contemplated moving back to Colorado from Utah, that they discovered his body was rejecting his donated kidney. Meanwhile, Edwards had gotten married and had two beautiful sons who are now 10 and 12. While doctors were monitoring his kidney in Colorado, they concluded that he needed to be added to the donor list in hopes to receive another. Edwards and his wife searched in desperate measure to find a match. 18 of his closest friends and family even offered but unfortunately none were a match. After reaching out to multiple people on Facebook, the right person finally found Edwards. A mutual friend of Stussy’s sister and fellow BYU classmate of Edwards, saw the post of him in need of a kidney on Facebook. This mutual friend knew the circumstances of Stussy and immediately thought to connect the two. Edwards, flattered by the connection, knew that this will probably be like the other 18 “matches” that didn’t work. The very next morning, Stussy’s family called and said that they have decided to donate all of his organs. In particular, the kidney for Edwards. Again, it was great news, but the chance of organs surviving after someone has been on life support is rare. But in this case, they did. Upon hearing the news the family instantly started crying tears of joy. Edwards received his kidney on December 5th and has been living a healthy and prosperous life thanks to Stussy and family. Stussy has not been forgotten, and immediately after the family’s loss of their son, Edwards vowed that they would send over two weeks of food in hopes to help out the family during this difficult time. Word caught on and eventually the entire Broomfield community was involved. Members of the Thornton Fire Department even brought a truck full of food to their house. Stussy saved many people by the donation of his organs, but in particular he saved the life of a father with a wife and two young boys within his own Broomfield community. [caption id="attachment_7106" align="aligncenter" width="122"] Elan Edwards[/caption]Interested in other local news? Check out why there is a petition to widen I-25!