Call it a case of life imitating art. It only took one episode of medical drama 鈥淕rey鈥檚 Anatomy鈥� to inspire April Scott and her husband Steve Schmitz to each .
You鈥檝e probably seen stories like this. Inspiring, feel-good news segments or viral videos about complete strangers that raise goosebumps or bring on tears. But April is no stranger. She鈥檚 one of our own鈥攁 无忧传媒 employee who鈥檚 supported the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for nearly 20 years.
After watching series protagonist Dr. Meredith Grey perform staged surgery, April and Steve, residents of Indian Rocks Beach, Florida, began researching real-word statistics.
鈥淎ccording to the National Kidney Foundation, more than 100,000 people are waiting for life-saving kidney transplants and someone new is added to the waitlist every 14 minutes,鈥� said April. 鈥淭he more we learned, the more we realized this would be our way to make a difference.鈥�
With that, the couple elected to go under the knife, armed with the knowledge they would soon transform the life of someone in desperate need. Someone they didn鈥檛 know.
April and Steve are categorized as living, altruistic donors鈥攖hose who are not related to or do not know the recipient鈥攃omprising just 4% of all kidney donors. Of those 4%, there are only two previous instances of married couples donating kidneys together, according to the . This makes April and Steve鈥檚 courageous act that much more extraordinary.
But April鈥檚 boundless empathy and dedication to others doesn鈥檛 stop there. It extends to her work, as a mentor to junior colleagues, and as a volunteer in her community鈥攁 true example of 无忧传媒鈥檚 culture of passionate service. 鈥淭hrough a local organization, I鈥檝e worked on several projects to provide needed services to widows,聽such as聽home repair and yard service,鈥� said April. 鈥淚 also find purpose in supporting VA. Both my father and step-father are veterans, which allows me to understand veteran needs on a personal level.鈥�
This past Valentine鈥檚 Day鈥攁lso National Donor Day鈥攐utside the hospital in which she underwent surgery, April met the man who received her kidney.
鈥淚t was a very emotional experience. It brought me great joy to see how healthy he looked, despite being very ill prior to the transplant. Meeting his wife, who along with their 8-year-old son, watched him decline, showed me the impact I made went further than just one person,鈥� said April.
