Kristie Sue Hathaway, a Minnesota State Patrol trooper, has given the gift of life — twice. In 2021, she donated a kidney to a stranger. Last year, she donated part of her liver. Learn about her experience.

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When Kristie Sue Hathaway learned an acquaintance had only a single kidney, she made a generous offer.

"If you ever need a kidney, I'll give you one of mine," she told the man.

It was a spontaneous and sincere offer that Kristie Sue, a Minnesota State Patrol trooper, would make again a few years later when she learned about a family friend who needed a kidney. Their blood types weren't compatible, so couldn't donate to him.

But Kristie Sue couldn't get the idea of donating out of her mind.

The acquaintance she'd offered her kidney to — a Mendota Heights police officer named Steve Hilyar — had become her husband, and she could see firsthand how it was possible to live well with one kidney. She began digging deeper into organ donation and soon discovered something that would change a stranger's life.

"I learned that you don't need to know the person to donate," Kristie Sue tells CBS News. "And I was like, 'I'll do that. I'm healthy, and if I ever came across someone that needed one, I'd give them a kidney, so why not?' I just felt like I needed to do it."

Becoming a nondirected living donor

Kristie Sue reached out to Mayo Clinic to begin the process of becoming a nondirected living donor, which included tests to ensure she was healthy enough to donate and conversations about the risks of donation.

"The process at Mayo was amazing," Kristie Sue says. "I'm part of a Facebook group of donors, and for some of them the testing process takes almost a year. At Mayo, everything is done in two or three days. It's a well-oiled machine. It builds your confidence as a patient to be so well taken care of."

I was kind of sad when the six months were over because I wasn't going to be seeing these amazingly sweet people who were part of one of the most positive things in my life.

Kristie Sue hathaway

After being approved to donate, Kristie Sue gave her care team a window of dates that she would be available for surgery.

"Then, they found me someone to donate to and away we went," she says.

Surgery took place on Feb. 11, 2021. Kristie Sue recovered quickly, running three miles just 12 days later.

"There are some misconceptions about living donation," Timucin Taner, M.D., Ph.D., division chair of Transplant Surgery at Mayo Clinic, tells CBS News. "People sometimes think they're not able to be active or have a normal life afterward. Those are all misconceptions. None of those are true." 

Kristie Sue agrees. After six weeks, she was back to running 20 miles a week.

Though she recovered well, Kristie Sue returned to Rochester frequently for six months for follow-up appointments with her care team.

"It's a very intense process after surgery," she says. "I was checking in with people at Mayo all the time. I was kind of sad when the six months were over because I wasn't going to be seeing these amazingly sweet people who were part of one of the most positive things in my life."

But Kristie Sue had a feeling she'd be back. And just over three years later, she was.

Joining an exclusive club: Double donors

On May 23, 2024, Kristie Sue donated a portion of her liver to a stranger, making her part of a very small group of people who have donated two organs. A 2023 article in Clinical Transplantation put the number at just 101 people in the U.S. between 1981 and 2021.

"Donating is not for everyone," says Kristie Sue. "I think it's something that's placed on the hearts of people who do this. It's not a long, thought-out decision for most of us."

Abigail Marsh, Ph.D., a neuroscientist and psychologist at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., is hoping to discover what makes some people take risks and make sacrifices to help others. In October 2024, Kristie Sue flew to Washington to participate in one of Dr. Marsh's research studies.

"To me, I'm just normal," Kristie Sue says. "I would like to know what is different about me that makes me make the decisions I do."

For now, she describes her decision to donate as "a no-brainer."

"You actually have made a measurable difference, and not just for the person getting it," Kristie Sue tells CBS News. "It's their whole family. They might have kids. They might have grandkids. You can't really put a price on somebody getting a few extra Christmases or a few extra birthdays or getting to attend a wedding that they wouldn't have otherwise been able to attend."

There are benefits to donors as well. Just ask Kristie Sue.

"Making a significant sacrifice for someone else changes you," she says. "My life has only gotten better after donation."

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Learn about becoming a living donor, a nondirected living donor, or how to register as an organ donor.