Giving the Gift of Life: Fort Dodge Woman Discusses Kidney Donation That Saved Her Father

(Alpha Media – Brooke Bickford) Tara Ely of Fort Dodge knows a thing or two about giving. 

When her dad Virgil Goodale got sick, she gave up a lot of her time making trips to help around the house and with his daily care.

“My dad is type one diabetic so he already has medical issues but he ended up getting food poisoning really bad and it was to the point  where it was shutting down his organs.”

Virgil needed a kidney transplant and the search for a donor was not an easy one, so Tara decided to see if she could be that person for her dad.

“I wasn’t scared, actually I was really at peace. I think I had just seen enough sadness. Other people had tried to donate and it was that rollercoaster of getting your hopes up and then finding they couldn’t.”

When she decided to see if she would be able to donate the first thing doctors checked was if her blood was compatible.

Tara was a match, which took her and her family a little by surprise.

“He’s my adopted father. I tell people it was my ah ha God moment there’s no way that could have been made possible if it wasn’t meant to be like that.”

She says he saved her from a life in foster care and in return she got the chance to save him.

The reality is that healing from a transplant is pretty tough, but she says she would do it again in a heartbeat for the time she has gained with her dad.

According to a Radio Iowa News story released this week, there are more than 600 Iowans waiting for a transplant or tissue donation. You can register to be an organ donor at IowaDonorNetwork.org.”