Beverly Sharp-Samograd has been living her life to the fullest, including travelling, helping raise her stepchildren, owning several businesses and celebrating the little things — all thanks to her sister.
Sharp-Samograd was born with a congenital kidney disorder — at the time called Bright’s disease — where her kidneys didn’t grow with her body. It’s now called nephritis: a serious inflammation of the kidneys.
It was the 1970s. Sharp-Samograd was 18 and in hairdressing school when she went home for Christmas on her family’s farm in Innisfree, Alta., about 150 kilometres east of Edmonton.
She became very sick.
Sharp-Samograd was taken to the local hospital, where she found out her kidneys had failed.
“Every cell in my body was poisoned,” she said.
“They rushed me to Edmonton and told my mom and dad that I probably wouldn’t make it.”
The teenager was put on dialysis.
Her parents and all eight of her siblings were willing to donate a kidney and went through testing. Eventually, her dad became her donor — but it was short-lived.
“It only lasted five days,” she said.
“Then it failed.”
She was left with complications from the surgery and spent two more years on dialysis that consumed her life: three times a week, eight hours a day.
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At the age of 21, her sister, Donna Lee Stavropoulos, insisted on donating. She was a 90 per cent match.
“It’s the greatest gift you could give.”
That surgery took place in Saskatoon in 1975. That kidney is still working, more than 50 years later. It gave Sharp-Samograd freedom to enjoy life.
“It allows you to do everything, if you take care of yourself,” Sharp-Samograd said. “Go on trips, go to weddings, birthdays, all kinds of things, and just enjoy the people around me.
“I’ve been very lucky that way.”
While Sharp-Samograd’s outcome is remarkable, she represents a small fraction of transplant recipients in Alberta.
A kidney transplant from a living donor typically lasts 17 to 21 years, while one from a deceased donor lasts 12 to 14 years.
“A living donor kidney functioning well for more than 50 years is exceptionally rare in transplant medicine and represents a truly extraordinary outcome,” says Dr. Sika Gourishankar, director of Alberta Health Services’ Living Donor Kidney Transplant Program.
“It is incredibly rare for her immune system to have accepted her sister, who wasn’t a perfect match.”
Gourishankar said Sharp-Samograd could have one of the longest-lasting donated kidneys in the world and said part of the reason for that is how well she’s taken care of her sister’s gift.
“She’s been fully committed to the transplant,” Gourishankar said.
“Beverly is an exceptional individual and she carries the spirit of giving and donation through what she does,” she added.
“I think her story speaks so loudly to what her sister has given to her.”
In 2025, there were 75 living donors in Alberta. Of those, 71 donated a kidney and four donated a lobe of their liver.
At the end of 2025, 321 people were waiting for a kidney in the province and 14 were waiting for a kidney and pancreas transplant.
“Unfortunately, patients will die waiting for a kidney transplant,” Gourishankar said.
Alberta’s organ and tissue donation program, Give Life Alberta, reported a record number of donors in 2024: a total of 317 deceased organ and/or tissue donors, which led to 423 organs transplanted, saving hundreds of lives and changing thousands more.
“It truly is an incredible gift that you can affect so many people’s lives,” Gourishankar said.
Unfortunately, just months before the 50th anniversary of the transplant in November 2025, Sharp-Samograd’s sister died.
She had lost two sons in her lifetime — one at four years old, the other in his 40s — and Sharp-Samograd said Stavropoulos often worked to deal with her grief.
“I truly believe she died of a broken heart.”
The pair had planned to spend the anniversary together. While it’s difficult for Sharp-Samograd to talk about the loss of her little sister, she’s eternally grateful for the gift she gave her and hopes by sharing her story, others will consider donating.
“You will live on by donating your body,” she said.
“What more are we here for but to help others?”
One organ donor can save up to eight lives, and a tissue donor can help up to 75 people.
For more information on organ and tissue donation, visit Give Life Alberta.
Albertans are encouraged to register their intent to donate online there or at a motor vehicle registry office, and to tell their loved ones about their donation decision, as it will be up to them to provide consent.
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