Erin Saotome, an Avon Lake native, is currently in Guatemala for a weeklong journey to climb three volcanoes to raise awareness for living donations. She’s part of a group of 18 that traveled to Central America with the organization Kidney Donor Athletes (KDA).
According to the organization’s website, its mission is “to promote the gift of life through living kidney donation among active individuals and athletes by building a community that inspires, supports, and educates people about the experience of kidney donation.”
The climb is also a fundraiser for KDA, which helps sponsor athletes' first event back after surgery.
Saotome said the volcano challenge is probably the wildest thing she’s ever done.
“The biggest point of our climbs is to advocate for living donation, kidney and liver, and show everybody that you can really do anything with one kidney that you could do with two,” Saotome said.
She spent some time training for the Guatemala trip at Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio.
Saotome, her husband and three children live in Michigan, where she works as a speech pathologist at a hospital. Saotome, who took up long-distance running as an adult, donated her right kidney in 2022.
Saotome said a conversation with a patient first introduced her to the idea of a living donation. Later, she would learn that her cousin’s husband needed a kidney. She said she went through the testing, but unfortunately, she wasn’t a match.
“So, they (medical staff) asked me if I would be interested in doing the paired donation through the National Kidney Registry,” Saotome said.
She agreed and ended up donating her kidney to a stranger. Her cousin’s husband received a kidney donation from another individual a few months later and is doing well.
“The hope is to encourage more people to be living donors because the list for a kidney is so long and people wait years and years for a deceased kidney,” Saotome said. “And oftentimes they (recipients) have better outcomes with a living donor, and they don't have to wait."
Saotome said climbing the volcanoes would put her to the test, but she’s been tested before. About 13 weeks after donating her kidney, in 2022, she ran the Cleveland Half Marathon.
She said the support she received from KDA was important.
“With their motivation I was able to do it,” Saotome said. “Not only did I run 13-weeks after surgery, but I ran my fastest half (marathon) to date."
She hopes that showing people what’s possible post-donations will lead more people to consider living donations.
“Honestly, a lot of people that are in this group (KDA) with us, we’ve not only found that life continues, but it can be better. Because when you’re realizing that you have to really focus on your health because you have to protect that one kidney you have, you eat better, you exercise, you drink more water- everything. A lot of people have said that their life has actually been better and healthier since donating."
Saotome said her climb is in honor of her dad, who died when she was 18. She said he was an eye donor.
Saotome said she’s grateful to her family and friends for their continued love and support.
“I have a full-time job and three kids and my husband never even hesitated. He said, ‘ You apply for it. Go for it. Do it. We'll do whatever it takes to support you,’” Saotome said.
