A mother and daughter duo of USPS customer retention agents in Akron, OH, recently celebrated five years of a successful transplant operation.
“It has been quite the journey, and I am so thankful that my wonderful daughter was able to be my hero,” said Ann “Shelli” Larkins, who has worked at the Postal Service for 30 years.
In January 2019, Larkins had quadruple bypass heart surgery. She then caught pneumonia and went into kidney failure.
As Larkins underwent dialysis every other day from February 2019 until early 2020, she began searching for a kidney donor. She first looked to her husband and her sister, but they were not strong enough matches. She asked several other people to get tested, but not her daughter, Kristina Kirby.
“I didn’t want to ask her because she had three small children at the time who depended on her, but she said, ‘Why don’t you ask me?’ She was more than willing to do it,” Larkins said.
Kirby got tested in November 2020 and she was a perfect match.
They proceeded with the scheduling of the transplant, which was challenging during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although the procedure was scheduled for early 2021, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center had a cancellation and offered to move their procedure ahead to Nov. 20, 2020.
“They told us on a Wednesday and that Friday we were on the table. We recovered on separate floors, but I did get rolled over once to see her before I was discharged to let her know I was fine,” Kirby said.
The medical team first took Kirby, who was then 34 years old, and removed her left kidney. Larkins, then 57 years old, followed 45 minutes later to receive the kidney and complete the transplant.
“When I woke up, I had a new fully functioning kidney. Life has been good without having to do dialysis. I feel much better, and it has extended my life. We are both doing well and celebrating five years of good health,” she said.
Both women are thankful to their Postal Service colleagues who supported them. Kirby, who joined USPS in 2017, was particularly grateful to learn of a special leave policy for organ donors.
Larkins said “it was a very intense time, and we were in a big hurry to get our leave and all our paperwork completed. Our USPS colleagues helped us get it all sorted and sent their best wishes and prayers.”
Larkins has examinations every three to six months to check and scan the kidney. Kirby had her initial follow-up one week post-operation. She was evaluated six months later and at the one- and two-year marks with no additional follow-up required.
Larkins’ and Kirby’s supervisor, Bernice Mazeke, marvels at the postal pair.
“Shelli and Kristina have a phenomenal mother and daughter relationship. You can see that when they are together. Kristina donating her kidney to her mother was a great act of selflessness,” she said. “It allowed Shelli to have a better quality of life. I have great respect for her. You could not have asked for more from a daughter. What a blessing.”
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