Military spouse ‘shares her spare’ with fellow Olympian’s dad

Courtesy Photo | Crissy Perham celebrates her Olympic win at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona,...... read more read more

Courtesy Photo | Crissy Perham celebrates her Olympic win at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. Selected as captain of the 1992 Olympic Swim Team, Perham took home two gold medals and a silver, and was on the world-record-setting medley relay team.  see less | View Image Page

UNITED STATES

04.22.2024

Story by Elaine Sanchez 

Defense Health Agency

✔ ✗ Subscribe

114

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, April 22, 2024 – Olympic gold medalist Crissy Perham may have hung up her swim cap in her 20s, but she held onto the dedication and passion that drove her to record-breaking success.

It would prove vital decades later when the 53-year-old military spouse and mom of two donated her kidney to save the life of someone she never met, Dick Franklin, the father of fellow Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin, a five-time gold medalist.

On her long list of lifetime achievements, Perham said her donation experience only shares the top spot with becoming an Olympian.

“I loved the work and effort I put into making the Olympic team, but I am also very proud of myself for donating a kidney,” said Perham, proudly displaying a T-shirt with “I shared my spare.”

“I think the only difference is that by donating a kidney, I’ve not only impacted Dick’s life, but I’ve made an impact on his wife, his daughter, and now the next generation since Missy is married with a child of her own,” she added. “It’s a lasting legacy.”

She may not have realized it at the time, but becoming a donor was a journey the swimmer had been preparing for since the age of 8, when she first declared her intent to become an Olympian.

‘Olympic Junkie’
Growing up in Iowa, a state better known for its football and basketball than its swimming, Perham experimented with several sports, musical instruments, and school clubs, but by the time she was in high school, she was hooked on swimming.

“I would watch the Olympics no matter what time it was on,” said the self-proclaimed “Olympic junkie.” “My grandma would send me to bed, but there was always archery or another sport coming on that I just ‘had’ to watch.”

Since her small town didn’t have a suitable pool, Perham’s parents drove her an hour each way to the nearest training site in Burlington, Iowa.

“I was the only competitive swimmer in my town, but I had amazing coaches and a wonderful support team who kept me on track,” she said.

The family later moved to Benson, Ariz., where the high schooler drove herself 47 miles every day at dawn to a training center in Tucson, Ariz.

Realizing a dream
Perham’s hard work paid off when she earned an athletic scholarship to swim at the University of Arizona, where she won her first national championship in 1990, the summer after her sophomore year. She also scored two NCAA national wins for her 100-yard butterfly in 1991 and 1992.

Selected as captain of the 1992 Olympic Swim Team, Perham took home two gold medals and a silver, and was on the world-record-setting medley relay team at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. Perham vividly recalls the pride she felt on the top tier of the Olympic podium but still finds it challenging to put that moment into words.

“You’d think there would be a word, but there’s not,” she said. “It was emotional. I was there and realizing a dream, and wanted to just soak it all in.”

‘It just felt right’
After the Olympics, Perham left competitive swimming behind, but she retained a desire to give back. She took on a new role as coach and mentor, and cheered on talented young swimmers, such as Missy Franklin, from the sidelines.

Perham and Missy had never crossed paths, “but I saw her swim and was blown away by her talent,” Perham said. In her 2012 Olympic debut at age 17, Missy won five medals, four gold, along with 11 gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships. Her four gold medals at the London Games in 2012 were the most by any American woman in a single Olympics.

Which is why Perham immediately took notice when the Franklin name popped up in her social media feed. Missy’s mother, DA Franklin, had put out a dire call for a live kidney donor for her husband Dick, who was suffering from polycystic kidney disease. PKD is an inherited disorder in which clusters of cysts develop within someone’s kidneys, causing them to enlarge and lose function over time.

“I hadn’t planned on becoming a donor, but I was moved when I saw DA’s post on social media; it just felt right,” said Perham, whose husband, retired Army Col. Charlie Perham, served as a civil engineer. “The Olympic swimming community, like the military, is small but very service oriented and community driven.”

At the time of his wife’s post, Franklin, then 76, was deteriorating. His kidneys were functioning at 11%, and he was slated to have surgery to insert a catheter for dialysis when he found out he had a potential match.

A perfect match
After an initial questionnaire, Perham traveled from her home in San Antonio to Franklin’s hospital in Denver, Colo., for a battery of compatibility tests, including physical exams, lab tests, medical screenings, and mental health evaluations. The testing, as with the surgery, is billed to the recipient’s insurance in most cases, and helping organizations also step in to aid with some costs to reduce any potential out-of-pocket expenses.

Due to her past training and current fitness passion, Perham knew she was fit and healthy; however, people don’t need to be an Olympic athlete to become a live donor.

While people often cite not being in perfect health as a disqualifying factor, “It’s not true that someone would be precluded because they are mildly overweight, a little older in age, or maybe taking a blood pressure medication,” said Army Lt. Col. (Dr.) Jamie Diaz Robinson, chief, Organ Transplant Services and Hepatobiliary & Pancreas Surgery, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the Department of Defense’s sole transplant facility. “However, the one issue that generally precludes everybody from being a donor is diabetes.”

To allay concerns about health impacts, Perham and her husband researched the potential short and long-term risks and found both to be generally low.

“The good news that came back about our health concerns encouraged me more,” she said.

According to the National Kidney Foundation, a living donation does not impact a person’s life expectancy and does not appear to increase the risk of kidney failure. In fact, over time, the donor’s remaining kidney tends to increase in size and function to compensate for the loss of the second kidney.

“In general, it is exceedingly safe to donate a kidney,” Robinson confirmed. There is very low risk of acute injury during the surgery and the long-term impacts are negligible.”

As a living donor, Perham also was increasing the odds of success for Franklin.

In most cases, living donors are preferred to deceased donors since live kidneys are typically healthier and last longer, Robinson explained. They also offer faster access to transplantation, which can lead to fewer health complications prior to a transplant and better survival rates after.

Perham was excited to learn she was a match, but didn’t see Franklin in person until Aug. 24, 2022, the day of the surgery, while she was being wheeled to the operating room. “There’s a video of me waving at him as I passed by,” she recalled.

A new lease on life
After an uneventful surgery, it was a speedy recovery for both. Perham donated her kidney on a Wednesday, discharged on a Friday, and was at a farmer’s market Monday, she said. “I’ve had a wonderful recovery since day one and continue to be healthy and active.”

Franklin was back at home a few days after Perham. “The surgery went smoothly, and I didn’t have any pain,” he said.

In the two years since, Franklin has been enjoying spending time with his family, including his wife, daughter, and nearly 3-year-old granddaughter, Caitlin. Adding to their special connection, Franklin and Caitlin share a birthday.

“I feel like I have a new lease on life,” Franklin said. “If it wasn’t for Crissy, I might not have even met my granddaughter.”

“It’s incredibly altruistic for someone to donate an organ to someone they don’t know,” he added. “It takes a very rare person.”

Post-surgery, Perham was advised to get regular checkups, eat healthy and exercise. She took her doctors’ orders to heart and in 2023, hiked over 140 miles across Western Europe in the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage route to a cathedral in Spain.

From pool to podium
In between treks and raising her two sons, Alex and Ryan, Perham has been leveraging her influence as an Olympic athlete and military spouse to shine a light on the vital need for living organ donors, especially in April during National Donate Life Month.

As she explains to her audiences, more than 103,000 people are currently on the waiting list for a lifesaving organ transplant, and nearly 90% of those are seeking a kidney. With an average three-to-five year wait on the national list, 17 people die each day waiting for an organ, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.

In 2023, more than 16,000 individuals became deceased donors, an increase over preceding years, but it still leaves a significant gap that living donors can help fill.

To encourage others to donate, one of Robinson’s roles is to dispel the many myths surrounding the giving act.

A common misnomer is that blood type alone determines a good match, she said. In fact, a series of blood tests are conducted to include blood typing, tissue typing and cross matching. Even if a donor’s blood is not compatible with the recipient’s, there are other ways to donate, such as a kidney-paired donation, which enables two or more pairs of living donors to swap to make a compatible match.

Additionally, and contrary to popular belief, active-duty service members are eligible to donate and can retain full active-duty status without limitations, Robinson said.

“We allow and facilitate for active-duty service members to also donate kidneys, whether it’s a loved one in need, or even altruistically to start an organ donation chain,” she said.

Finally, while the hospital is a military facility, anyone -- no service connection needed -- can apply to be a living donor in the military’s 5-star transplant program, Robinson said.

Promising future
Moving forward, the Franklins and Perhams will continue to foster their friendship and share their story to encourage others to donate. To reinforce the message, Perham even made them matching shirts.

“Dick’s says, ‘I run on spare parts,’ and mine says, ‘Living donor, who wouldn’t want a piece of this,’” Perham said with a smile. “I may have given up a kidney, but my life is truly richer because of it.”

For more information or to self-refer for the Walter Reed program, call 301-828-7313 or email dha.bethesda.wrnmmc.mbx.organ-transplant@health.mil. For TRICARE beneficiaries, providers can put in a referral for "Transplant Medicine."

For general information about becoming a live donor, visit https://unos.org/transplant/living-donation/.