—by Aimee Wright-Chase

I wanted to share something amazing with you in which the Portland Timbers and the Timbers Army have unknowingly played a role.

Whipsaws FC, with Aimee and Angie front and center

It truly all began while I was standing in line during the inaugural MLS season. I became better acquainted with a woman I had played soccer with over the years. As we began learning more about each other, she told me about the health struggles her partner, Blanca, had been enduring. You see, Blanca was slowly dying from a condition called nephrocalcinosis.

During a National Kidney Walk, I asked Angie, no longer a mere acquaintance thanks to the line culture of the Timbers Army, what Blanca's blood type was. We were a match.

Just before Aimee's surgery

Long story short, on Monday, January 11, 2016, Blanca and I became kidney buddies. The amount of change for Blanca in the next 48 hours was amazing! Her creatinine levels dropped from a 14 to a 3 and into normal levels the following day. Look it up; that is awesome! She was even eating before I was and we got a chance to visit the day after surgery. We were both tired, but she looked so amazing!

The list is long of new challenges ahead of Blanca and Angie. But we all know, through experience, what a community it is that we belong to and how much that support system of the Whipsaws and Timbers Army can do.  If there was ever a surgery wrapped in a secure blanket of prayers and positive thoughts, it would have been ours.

Recipient and donor see each other for the first time post-op

I am sharing this with you for a couple of reasons—one being that we partially owe the friendship between Angie and me, and now Blanca, to both the Timbers Army line culture and the creation of the first women’s TAFC team, the Whipsaws, on which both Angie and I have proudly played since it began. But most importantly, we also want to raise awareness about living donation.

Heading home, I find myself at times overwhelmed with how quickly life changes and how sometimes it truly feels out of our control and more like destiny.

As Coach Porter would say, the magic was real!

Interview with KPTV: http://www.kptv.com/story/30789784/portland-woman-getting-new-kidney-from-partners-soccer-teammate

GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/kidneyforblanca