Hero to Hero
Luke McKay
Organ donation is an issue of supply and demand. For Luke McKay, a 2018 Amarillo High School graduate, all the signs seemed to be demanding that he do his part to help with supply.
“In one of our classes during my first year of medical school, we had a transplant surgeon talk about the technical aspects of organ donation. And, it clicked that I am right across the street from a really good transplant clinic six out of seven days a week, and there’s nothing in my life stopping me from being able to play a part in helping,” says Luke.
So he did.
On a March day in 2024, Luke reported to the transplant clinic that he had become so familiar with and donated a kidney. A year later, he would learn his kidney had gone to a San Antonio police officer.
Luke remembers his time in AISD’s exclusive International Baccalaureate Diploma program as a primer for creating ways to impact his community and give back.
“A big part of IB is outside of the classroom and community service elements. I had so many passionate and talented classmates who organized really cool events, like a charity concert raising funds for hurricane relief after Hurricane Harvey in 2017,” he recalls. “Those peers helped me realize all the different ways to participate in your community and help those around you.”
That’s the same reason Luke, who earned a perfect score on the MCAT (the exam to get into medical school), by the way, chose the medical field. “It feels like the best way I can help people,” says Luke. “I appreciate the way, especially primary care and family medicine, allows you to play such a big role in people’s daily lives and connect with so many people in your community.”
Ironically, on the day of his kidney donation, Luke was indeed part of a community–a chain of willing donors in a process where incompatible donor-recipient pairs are matched. “When you donate non-directed, like I did, you don’t have a specific recipient in mind. They’re able to use you to set up a chain. If someone is willing to donate but isn’t a match for someone else, they’ll set up cross-exchanges,” he explains.
A few months ago, Luke got to meet the police officer who received his kidney at a special event organized by the hospital.
“He said, ‘Thank you, you’ve given me my life back,’” says Luke. “I also met his daughter, who said something similar. That was one of those moments, seeing, especially through her eyes, what it meant for not just the recipient but also his family and his community. The big lesson was just the ripple effect of your actions and willingness to be of service in some way.”
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