KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The story of an East Tennessee couple who donated their organs to help each other survive became a book, and will soon become a movie.
In 2016, Steve Winfree was put on dialysis after being diagnosed with kidney failure in 2003. After 16 months of treatment, he was placed on the transplant list at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
“I started the process to be put on the transplant list at Vanderbilt, the same day my donor started her process of finding out if she could donate to me,” said Steve.
There was a perfect match out there for Steve, who was much closer than expected.
“It was my wife who was trying to save my life,” said Steve.
And that, she did.
“I had to make the decision, what am I going to focus on,” said Heather. "So I decided to focus on, 'How am I going to tell him,' instead of, 'I may not be a match.'"
Steve said the couple was sitting on their front porch when Heather handed him some baseball cards, something he enjoyed collecting as a child.
“I get to one of the baseball cards and it's a card of me — it's me at Vanderbilt, smiling and pointing to the kidney transplant door where I did all my testing," he said. “On the back, it had a bunch of baseball puns. And as I was reading through the puns. It says, ‘You're now going to be a rookie recipient at Vanderbilt, and your wife's going to pitch you a new kidney.’”
The words on the card came from the couple's wedding vows.
“In sickness and in health, we meant that,” said Heather. “Donating a kidney to Steve was just an extension of those vows.”
Heather posted a video of the moment Steve received the card online, and it was shared widely. She said she hoped the video inspired others to sign up to donate their organs and raised awareness about the importance of organ donation.
“I got a message on Facebook from a woman in Louisiana,” said Heather. “She said, 'Because of you sharing your story, I am now going to be donating a kidney to a complete stranger.'”
Now, the couple is sharing their journey in their book, “The Rookie Recipient”. Steve said they also sold their movie rights to Cylk Cozart, an actor and director from Tennessee. The two hope their book, movie, and story continue to inspire others.
“I felt like I had to go through all the horribleness, all that terrible stuff, to finally get to the point where I can achieve my dreams. And I’m living my dream every day,” said Steve.
The Winfrees say they will start the movie process in the next couple of weeks.
