John Maxcy believes it's an honor to be an organ donor. He should know. He's given the gift of life twice.

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Paul Voth was in trouble. His liver was failing him.

"I just felt really tired, really just kind of blah, you know, just didn't have any interest in much of anything, and I'd forget things," Paul tells KTTC-TV. "They did some research on me and said, well, your liver is in rough shape."

Paul was evaluated at Mayo Clinic and placed on the liver transplant list. He waited by the phone 24/7 for the call that would save his life.

That call came thanks to John Maxcy, who had volunteered to donate part of his liver to someone in need.

"If you're not helping someone else with your life, I really don't know what you're doing here. I really don't," John tells KTTC.

It wasn't the first time John had given a piece of himself to help a stranger. Several years earlier, he'd donated a kidney. He's one of just 30 or so people in the U.S. to have donated more than one organ, KTTC reports.

"It is an honor to be a donor," John says. I got way more back in life than I gave away. Donating changes you in many unexpected ways, and they're all good."

Inspired to give

John's path to organ donation began after he watched a TedTalk advocating for a national kidney donation exchange.

"Something kept pulling me to watch the video again," John says.

When he did, he realized the surgeon who gave the talk worked at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, his local hospital.

"I called the surgeon and told her I wanted to be a kidney donor to anyone who needed it, but I would only move forward if she agreed to be the surgeon," he says.

The surgeon agreed, and John donated a kidney in 2019. A month later, he met the recipient.

"He's still doing well five years later," John says.

I don't really consider that I've done anything extraordinary. Donors give a few months of their lives to the cause. The medical transplant teams are the ones who spend their entire lives dedicated to saving others.

John Maxcy

That experience marked the beginning of John's journey to save lives.

"I was determined to give all I could give to help other people," says John, who registered to be an altruistic liver donor soon after donating his kidney.

In 2023, testing revealed that John's liver was a match for Paul Voth. The transplant surgery took place on Oct. 3, 2023.

"I got a second chance and I'm going to utilize this one properly," says Paul, who had the opportunity to thank John face-to-face for that chance when the two men met at Mayo Clinic several months after the transplant. 

John believes the thanks really goes to the healthcare teams who make transplants possible. 

"I don't really consider that I've done anything extraordinary," John says. "Donors give a few months of their lives to the cause. The medical transplant teams are the ones who spend their entire lives dedicated to saving others."

From donor to advocate

While John has run out of organs to donate, he hasn't finished his efforts to make a difference for the more than 100,000 people in the U.S. who remain on the transplant list.

He mentors potential organ donors, is an ambassador for the United Network for Organ Sharing, and has worked to improve legal protections for donors in his home state of Mississippi.

"Advocacy is my main passion now that the physical donations are behind me," John says. "You never know who is listening or reading your story and might want to become a donor as well."

Every staff member put the needs of the patient above all else. I honestly didn't know medicine could work this well.

John Maxcy

And if he does inspire anyone to become a donor, he knows just where to recommend they go for surgery.

"I weaved my way across three different transplant hospitals all over the country during my transplant journey and was in touch with a dozen more through email and telephone calls, and nothing — I mean nothing — came close to the well-oiled machine of Mayo Clinic," John says. "Every aspect of my care was detailed and planned out. Every staff member put the needs of the patient above all else. I honestly didn't know medicine could work this well."

Note: You can follow John on X, where his handle is @nephro_maniac — a nod to nephrology, the specialty focused on kidneys.