MATTHEWS, N.C. — John Kach, who was on list for a kidney donation, got the call after about a year of being on the waiting list.
Kach, who survived bacterial meningitis over two decades ago, first told WCNC Charlotte in the summer of 2023, about his need of another kidney.
The Matthews man recalled, "I went through kidney failure and had to be put on dialysis."
Captured in the 2000 documentary, "Coming home, the John Kach story," Kach recovered from a rare strain of bacterial meningitis but left him an amputee at 19 years old.
Now 43 years old, Kach said he barely getting any sleep since he would have to constantly hook up to dialysis.
"Dialysis was keeping me alive, but slowly killing me at the same time," he said.
After months of waiting and uncertainty, Kach said he got the call he desperately needed. A kidney was available, but it was classified as a "high-risk" kidney.
"They couldn't tell me if it could have possibly had a disease that could have transferred over to me. I would only be able to tell 28 days after the surgery took place to know if I would be clear, and so it was a really hard decision to make," Kach said. "I decided to pass on that one at that point. In time, that took a lot out of me because I knew how much people have sacrificed for me. And to prolong it, that was a really hard decision, and they {doctors} needed an answer right away."
A few more months passed.
Then this past April, he received another call from Duke Hospital.
Kach said he kept his emotions in check.
He said, "I think people around me were more anxious and excited. But then once they're like, 'OK, we're heading in,' that's when, kind of, the emotions kind of creep up a little bit. And you're kinda almost at that finish line."
Fortunately, the transplant took and Kach was able to work from home within three weeks.
He said, "I was able to kind of bounce back pretty quick."
He said no longer having to hook up to dialysis every night, has improved his quality of life.
"I feel a lot better. I have a lot more energy. I sleep at night now," Kach said. "I see people {who} haven't seen me since the surgery. And right away they tell me I look a lot better. My color is better, those types of things."
"I wouldn't have gotten through this without my mom and my family. The support was huge," he said.
For more information on organ donation click here.
Contact Jane Monreal at jmonreal@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.