Think of your normal morning routine. You wake up, shower, get ready for work or school, pour your normal cup of coffee, and then you’re on your way.

Now stop.

Let me tell you a story.

Donate Life states that in the United States alone, there are 120,000 men, women and children who cannot have a normal morning routine. It may be that these 120,000 have to unhook from a dialysis catheter. It may be that these 120,000 have to travel to a clinic or hospital in order to receive life-saving treatment.

These 120,000 men, women and children are all awaiting an organ transplant. Stop and think about those numbers. 120,000 people is the size of a small city. Here’s a few more factors: Every 10 minutes, another person is added to this 120,000. Each day, 22 lives are lost from this 120,000.

I was once a part of this statistic. I was once 1 in 120,000.

In November of 1997, I was rushed to my not-so local Children’s Hospital, 75 miles from my hometown. It was there that my team of Doctors and Nurses discovered a birth defect that had been missed back in 1994. I was diagnosed with Multiple Cystic Kidney Dysplasia- which basically meant that both of my renal organs were twice the size of a normal kidney and also had small cysts all around them.

It was that day in November of 1997 that I was told I was in complete renal failure. I was added to a list of 120,000. From then on my life consisted of being connected by tube to a large machine, watching blood pump in and out of my body. While I fought for my life, there was someone behind the scenes also fighting for the right to save my life.

From the moment I was officially diagnosed with renal failure, my dad began to fight for my life as well. He went through every test imaginable in order to start the process of donating his kidney to me.

Finally, through months of testing, blood matching, and dialysis treatments: on March 3, 1998, I got my second lease on life when my Dad decided to donate his kidney to me.

Being an organ recipient has opened doors for me that I cannot begin to fathom to explain. I have found a community of people, just like myself, who share similar donor stories. Most of all, being an Organ Recipient has taught me what true, irrevocable love means because of my Organ Donor, because of my Daddy.

It has been 18 years since March 3, 1998. On March 3, 2017, I will be celebrating 19 years of having my original transplant, a celebration that many do not get to celebrate. I get to watch friends celebrate their annual transplants, I meet people who are awaiting their second lease on life.

Organ Donation is still a relevant and important subject in the world. There are still 1 in 120,000 people waiting for a life-saving transplantation so they can live a normal life.

Please, if you have learned anything from my story, I hope it is that every life is fragile. Every life is important and you could be the hero that allows a life to continue. Sign Up. Save Lives. Register to be an Organ Donor by designating your decision on your license or visit http://organdonor.gov. You could be saving a child, an adult, or a life like mine.