The Kidney She Was Holding for Steve; Unexpected St. Paul’s donor gives man a second chance at life

By Philip A. Janquart

ICR Editor

BOISE — She never knew it, but Melissa Burke lived her entire life with one kidney larger than the other.

A common occurrence in human anatomy, it was found to be healthy and fully functional. It was, however, an extraordinary discovery that would change two lives forever.

Here's what happened:

Steve Brown, now 69, was first diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease (PKD) in 1988. At the time, he had hoped to donate one of his kidneys to his mother, who was suffering from kidney failure caused by the same inherited disorder. The diagnosis made him ineligible as a donor.

Steve Brown following kidney transplant surgery.

(Courtesy photo)

For the next 35 years, Steve was monitored regularly by his nephrologist as the disease slowly progressed.

In 2023, that progression took a dramatic turn.

“My nephrologist, Dr. Nicholas Hunt, had been seeing me about once a year,” Steve told the Idaho Catholic Register. “When my kidney function started declining more rapidly, he told me I needed to get ready to start dialysis. I told him, ‘That isn't happening.’”

Because Steve resisted undergoing surgery to create a fistula for dialysis access, Dr. Hunt shortened the interval between appointments.

“He told me he would have to see me again in six months,” Steve recalled. “But then he added, ‘But you won’t make it six more months.’”

Three months to the day later, Hunt’s prediction proved accurate. Steve was hospitalized in complete renal failure.

“My kidneys were junk; they weren’t functioning well,” he said. “I ended up in the hospital three months after finding out. The condition of my kidneys had deteriorated rapidly, and I was about to flip and die because my body was so full of poison.”

Steve urgently needed a kidney transplant. As he began dialysis and was added to the transplant waiting list, he could only wait and hope. His rare blood type made the search for a compatible donor especially difficult, and doctors estimated it could take five to seven years to find a match.

“I thought, ‘OK, I’m really stuck,’” he said.

Finding faith

Meanwhile, he had begun struggling with his faith. Steve, who spent decades in Protestant communities, including the Calvary Chapel movement, went through periods when he found himself distanced from church life.

“I went through a divorce and got angry,” he said. “Then I realized I needed God and started church jumping, but I couldn’t get into the mega church scene. And so, I just said, ‘God knows my heart, and I’m good to go.’”

He had second thoughts when his son

challenged him on the subject. From left, Paul Burke, Melissa Burke and Steve Brown. (Courtesy photo)

“He said, ‘No, Dad. Seek first the Spirit and seek first God in all things. Are you doing that? Are you going to church?’” Steve said.

His son, Michael, had previously converted to Catholicism and encouraged his dad to learn more.

“I asked him to send me everything he had on the Catholic Church,” Steve said.

He read extensively for two years, curiosity eventually motivating him to attend Mass with a friend at St. Paul Parish in Nampa, where he met Deacon Charles Corballus and entered the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA).

“I said, ‘I want to do OCIA,’” he said.

He previously shared the story of his conversion during this time in the May 10, 2023 issue of the ICR.

Steve converted to Catholicism and is now an OCIA program table leader at St. Paul’s—so is Melissa.

Finding a donor

Melissa and Steve were familiar with one another, exchanging greetings at OCIA classes, but they never had a formal conversation.

That changed the day Steve made the announcement that he had been accepted into the highly selective GiftWorks program at the University of Utah.

“One night, I asked Deacon Charles if I could make my presentation during the first five or ten minutes of the OCIA class, asking folks if they would share my story through the GiftWorks program on their social media to get the word out that I needed a donor,” he said.

  Dave's son Michael and his family joined him in Paris for a

family vacation. From right, Michael's daughter Rosalie, wife

Kim, son Dominic and Steve. (Courtesy photo)

GiftWorks, LLC

The GiftWorks program is a relatively innovative transplant-support initiative designed to help kidney transplant candidates find living donors by teaching them how to advocate for themselves publicly—especially through social media, storytelling and community outreach, according to the GiftWorks website.

The program operates in partnership with University of Utah Health Transplant Services and focuses primarily on kidney transplant patients seeking living donors.

“I remember that day when he stood up and told everybody,” Melissa recollected. “He shared that it was really difficult for him to stand up there; it was easy for me to imagine how hard that was for him. He said, ‘I'm not asking anybody for a kidney. I'm just asking if you could share this on your social media.’”

Following Steve’s presentation, Melissa and husband, Paul, began discussing the prospect of Melissa becoming a donor after learning she had the same O-positive blood type. Paul, however, was worried, but quickly offered his support.

“I said, ‘Well, let’s see what we can do for him,’” he said. “When I found out that she was also O-positive, I got this sense of peace, and it came from the Holy Spirit. That’s the only explanation I can give. I knew everything was going to be fine.”

Melissa said she felt all along that she would be a match.

Steve didn’t expect to find a donor so soon, much less from the OCIA program at his own church.

“I was blown away,” he recalled. “I said, ‘Are you guys sure?’”

Decision of a lifetime

Melissa soon began the testing process to see if the transplant was plausible.

“I quickly had all the testing done,” she said. “The University of Utah worked with St. Luke’s here in Boise, so I didn’t have to drive to Utah, except once.”

She met all the requirements, but there were two potential problems: one was too small, and it was questionable if the other would be a viable match.

“They told me that one of my kidneys was a little larger than the other, that I might not have a donatable kidney—because sometimes a woman’s kidneys are too small for men—so they had to do another test,” Melissa explained. “Then, I received a text, and it said that the larger kidney was a 98% match, which is almost unheard of.

“The fact that one of my kidneys was bigger, I decided that God had put it inside of me so that I could hold it for Steve because eventually it was his; it was perfect.”

Doctors shared more information about the transplant following the surgery. Many kidney transplant recipients have a ureteral stent, a small plastic tube placed between the transplanted kidney and the bladder, which helps with urine flow while the connection heals. Because the immune system recognizes the new kidney as foreign, patients must also take immunosuppressive (anti-rejection) medications.

But Steve didn’t need the tube, and takes an unusually low dose of anti-rejection medication.

“It fit like it belonged there. They (the doctors) told me it was custom grown for me,” he said. “They said the kidney began functioning the second they re-established blood supply. It was already producing urine. You don’t see that right away. I thought, ‘Wow!’ I didn't have to have a drain tube in my side. I didn't have to be on prednisone. And now today, I'm on the lowest amount of immunosuppressants. I bounced back so fast, I was riding my Harley six weeks later.”

  Steve shows off his catch, a rainbow trout, during a fishing trip.

(Courtesy photo)

Melissa described her own recovery as physically difficult but spiritually rewarding.

“The initial recovery is painful,” she said. “But I had such a joy.”

She said that joy remained even in the midst of discomfort.

“I was in a lot of pain, but I can’t explain the joy I had,” she said.

She also said she has no regrets.

“I haven’t, not even once,” she said. “Even if something had gone wrong, I would never have regretted it.”

Both she and her husband said the experience strengthened their faith.

“This whole thing has been a true miracle,” Paul said. “The Holy Spirit was working in our faith.”

They also emphasized the role of the parish community.

“I realized how many people were praying for us and the power of that,” Melissa said.

Steve agreed.

“When two or more come in prayer before the Lord, he hears you,” he said.

Despite the positive outcome, Steve said he has, at times, fought against feelings of unworthiness.

“I still struggle with … well, I don’t feel worthy,” he said during a combined ICR interview with Melissa and Paul. “I can never repay her for what she did for me.”

Melissa responded with a simple and sincere reply.

“You can’t repay it because God already has,” she said.

All three said they agreed to share their story in the hope it might encourage others.

“I would love it if this could be done in such a way that others might be inspired to do the same,” Melissa said.

She noted that many people are waiting for transplants and that living donations can make a significant difference.

“A healthy person can live a full normal life with one kidney,” she said.

Paul said the need is real, stating that there are 90,000 people in the U.S. who are currently waiting for donors. The average wait for a deceased-donor kidney can be three to more than five years.

“Anyway, everything worked out really well,” he said. “It was such a blessing that I think the story needs to be told. And like I said, ‘I hope it inspires other people to do the same thing.’”

On June 5, 2026, Steve celebrated a milestone: the first anniversary of the kidney transplant that transformed his life.