Make Me A Thriver: Gina Cooper

Make Me A Thriver: Gina Cooper’sLeap of Faith

By HOLLY DODGE

Each year, more than 90,000 patients wait on the national kidney registry for a life-saving transplant. Tragically, 4,500 people die each year while waiting for a transplanteligible kidney. One Lake Crystal resident and City Council member, Gina Cooper, took it upon herself to change that statistic.

Gina, a technical writer at ISG, settled down in Lake Crystal in 2005 with her husband, Tom, and their three children. While she had always been interested in finding ways to serve others, she never imagined kidney donation would become a part of her service until early 2024 when she began researching the process.

It was, as she describes it, “a leap of faith.”

Her journey began by following three Facebook groups: Kidney Donor Support Group, Kidney Donor Athletes and Kidney Donors with Complications. She learned so much!

The first step was signing up with the National Kidney Registry (NKR) to find the perfect match. She filled out a simple online inquiry through the National Kidney Registry (NKR) to begin the process of being matched with someone waiting for a kidney.

After determining she was a good donor option and with her family’s support, Gina underwent many tests and interviews with social workers and medical professionals to ensure she was mentally and physically prepared for the donation.

“Every step of the way, they made sure I had the option to back out,” Gina recalls. “No one should feel pressured into this—it has to be a personal decision.”

After a summer of extensive testing, Gina received the joyful news on August 19, 2024. She was matched with a recipient—a woman battling inherited polycystic kidney disease who had been on dialysis, waiting for a transplant at age 56.

On September 10, 2024, Gina had surgery to donate her kidney. The procedure lasted only a few hours, and her recovery was remarkably smooth. “I was up and walking around the hospital within a day.”

Within two days, she was back home, where she worked remotely for two weeks. Within a few short weeks, she was back up to walking six miles at a time.

One of the most moving moments came the day after surgery when Gina received an email from her recipient. By coincidence, they were in the same hospital building—just one room apart. The two were able to meet in person.

“She was so grateful,” Gina remembers. “Meeting her made everything even more real.”

A common fear of potential donors is, “What if someone in my family needs a kidney transplant in the future?” The NKR’s voucher system provides a solution. Donors can designate up to five people as voucher holders, and if any of them ever need a kidney transplant, they are moved to the front of the recipient list.

Gina used her voucher to help a woman she met online, who had been waiting for four years. “It’s an insurance policy,” she explains. “More people might donate if they knew this was an option.”

Raising Awareness

A common myth about kidney donation is that it drastically changes one’s lifestyle.

“Your remaining kidney grows slightly to compensate, but otherwise, you can live a completely normal, healthy life with just one kidney,” Gina says. “Complications are very rare.”

For Gina, an avid hiker and biker, donating her kidney didn’t slow her down—it motivated her to take on new physical challenges.

Inspired by her experience and her new wealth of knowledge, Gina has turned her focus to raising awareness and encouraging more people to consider donation. She became involved with Kidney Donor Athletes (KDA), a group that proves that donors can still achieve impressive physical feats.

On June 21, 2025—the longest day of the year—Gina will take on her next challenge: a one-day 31-mile hike in Cable, Wisconsin, called Hike the Birkie, a feat organized by Gina herself. The hike is a fundraiser for kidney donation awareness, and she has already raised over $1,000 to pay it forward.

Many people assume that donating an organ is a costly endeavor, but Gina emphasizes that this is not the case. The NKR’s Donor Shield program ensures that all expenses, including travel, lodging, and lost wages, are covered. Additionally, state law guarantees paid leave for donors, and Gina’s employer, ISG, was incredibly supportive throughout her experience.

Gina’s biggest takeaway from her donation is that more people would donate if they understood the process and the need.

“This consumed my thoughts for a long time,” she says. “But now I realize the best thing I can do is spread awareness. If more people were educated about the process, imagine how many lives we could save.”

Reflecting on her experience, Gina marvels at how much has changed in just a year.

“I never thought I’d be a kidney donor, and I never thought I’d be doing a 31-mile hike to raise awareness. But here I am,” she says.

Her story is one of courage, generosity, and advocacy, proving that even a single act of kindness can have a ripple effect. As she continues to promote kidney donation, Gina hopes that her experience will inspire others to consider taking their own leap of faith.