A moment that changed me: I donated my kidney to a stranger – and felt like a failure

Instead, I just recited facts: it is a relatively safe procedure with a high likelihood of success; thousands of people die each year in the US while waiting for an organ transplant due to a lack of donors. Plus, consider the awe-inspiring science that allows us to take a kidney from one person and give it to another, and the bizarre fact that, yes, you really do only need one.