Intermountain Health Transplant Team Reunites Woman Who Gave Kidney to Stranger She Met While Hiking

A chance meeting on “Y Mountain” in Provo, Utah, led to a life-saving kidney transplant for a local pastor whose health was deteriorating and was desperately waiting for an organ donor.

The two returned to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah, where a kidney transplant happens every 32 hours. Their goal was to reconnect with Intermountain surgeons, nurses, physicians, and transplant care team to offer their life-saving gratitude and to share their unique story.

Krissy Miller, a 49-year-old mother of four and hiker from Provo, felt a strong connection with Shiller Joseph, a 45-year-old pastor from Florida, when they crossed paths on the trail on “Y Mountain” in Provo on that fateful day in September 2023.

Miller struck up a conversation with him and at one point asked, “What do you like about Utah?”

“I moved up on the transplant list,” responded Joseph, who suffers from lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease that damaged his kidneys.

Right there, Miller offered to give him one of her kidneys, after several tests, they found out they were a perfect match.

On April 2, 2024, Miller and Joseph underwent successful surgeries at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, to complete an unlikely connection that resulted in a life-saving donation for Joseph.

Living kidney donors can save the life of a family member, friend, neighbor or even a stranger.

With more than 90,000 people across the country waiting for a kidney transplant, living kidney donors can offer them a second chance at life.

“The gift of life that comes from a living donor transplant can provide a shorter wait time, reduce the risk of complications and offer a better chance for long-term success for the person who receives your kidney,” said Donald Morris, MD, Intermountain Health kidney transplant medical director. “Our living kidney donor program is committed to helping patients achieve transplant while maintaining the highest standards of health and safety for donors and recipients.”

Since Intermountain Health’s living kidney donor program started in 1983, surgeons have performed more than 1,400 living donor transplants and more than 3,600 total kidney transplants and have achieved outcomes that exceed national averages.

In the last nine years, Intermountain Health has also seen a 458% increase in kidney transplants and has become the number one transplant program in the United States for living donations on the adult kidney transplant wait list.

“As one of the first comprehensive kidney transplant centers in the U.S., our renowned program has developed many of the techniques and treatments used nationwide today for transplants,” said Jean Botha, MD, medical director of Intermountain Health’s abdominal transplant program. “In fact, recent studies have found the last decade to be a lot safer for living donors.”

A Stranger’s Gift
Miller had wanted to be a kidney donor, ever since she saw a Facebook post in 2022 about a father in need of a transplant.

She even went through the screening process but did not pass and was told she had to lower her blood sugar and lose some weight before she could donate.

Miller put the thought of donating out of her mind, but decided to start hiking Y Mountain, three times a week – a 2.2-mile round trip hike with more than 1,000 feet elevation gain.

During the next year, Miller lost 37 pounds and felt healthier than ever. The thought of donating a kidney came back into her mind. She prayed for guidance before one of her hikes. On that very hike, she met Joseph and his wife, Rhona who had recently moved from Florida to start a ministry in Utah.

She struck up a conversation with them and soon learned she and Joseph both had the same blood type, O+.

She was moved by his story and said, “What if I give you one of my kidneys?”

Joseph was humbled by her offer, and said, “Whatever God tells you.”

The two exchanged information and kept in touch, forming an unlikely friendship between the two and their families.

On March 5, 2024, Miller went through another series of tests, and soon after Meleta Egbert, Intermountain Health transplant coordinator, told her she was a “good match” for Joseph.

“Telling donors and recipients they are a match is the best part of my job,” said Egbert. “Seeing how Krissy, a total stranger was willing to change Shiller’s life, was just heartwarming, beautiful and actually surprisingly not that unusual here in Utah and for the Intermountain Health transplant program.”

Over the last three years Intermountain has transplanted 21 Good Samaritan or non-directed living kidney donors.

“These donors selflessly gave the gift of life to a someone they didn’t know,” said Dr. Morris.

When it came time to share the news, Miller surprised Joseph with some homemade rolls and a sign and that said, “I kid you not! Let’s get this surgery, ‘roll’-ing! You’re getting a kidney!”

Joseph was speechless, in tears, overjoyed and grateful for her generosity.

“How is this lady a match? She doesn’t even know me, but she was teaching me faith and trust,” said Joseph.

Joseph had been diagnosed with lupus when he was younger, but his condition worsened in 2020, when he was as he says, “A Snickers bar away from being obese.”

When Joseph’s lupus came out of remission with a vengeance he had to start dialysis, three times a week, and he could no longer work.

Joseph, a former paramedic, wanted to lose some weight and started hiking trails with his wife.
On September 14, 2023, his first time on Y Mountain, he met Miller and felt an instant bond with her.

After three years of dialysis and only a year on the waiting list, Joseph got his new kidney.

“Had I stayed in Florida, I would have waited at least eight years,” said Joseph.

Intermountain Health’s transplant program has one of the shortest wait times in the country and is recognized for providing the best match for incompatible pairs and compatible pairs, like Miller and Joseph.

Joseph now calls Krissy Miller his sister and angel, and says she saved his life.

“We may look different, but we’re all the same on the inside,” Joseph said. He hopes their story will inspire others to consider becoming organ donors, and to see the humanity in everyone they meet.

Last year, just 6,290 of the nation’s more than 27,000 kidney transplants came from living donors.

Finding a living donor not only shortens the national waiting list, but those organs also tend to survive longer than ones from deceased donors.

To learn more about living kidney donation and become an organ donor, click here.

NOTE TO MEDIA: Additional video and photos available upon request.

About Intermountain Health

Headquartered in Utah with locations in six states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Health is a nonprofit system of 33 hospitals, 385 clinics, medical groups with some 4,600 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For more information or updates, see https://intermountainhealthcare.org/news.