Piedmont Athens Regional employee honored as living kidney donor

Athens, Ga. (April 22, 2026) -- April is Donate Life Month and Piedmont Athens Regional is honored to recognize Sarah Mitchell, a member of the Piedmont Home Health team, whose decision to become a living kidney donor helped save lives in Georgia and across the country.

Mitchell’s donor journey began in early 2025 after she saw a post on Facebook from an acquaintance she knew through a moms’ group. Although the two were not close friends, Mitchell felt compelled to help when she learned the woman needed a kidney transplant.

“Organ donation saves lives in ways we can’t always measure,” Mitchell said. “I didn’t know whose life I would impact; I only knew that I could help.”

After beginning the evaluation process, Mitchell learned she was not a direct match for her acquaintance. However, she continued with testing and was ultimately approved as a living kidney donor through Piedmont. In October 2025, Mitchell underwent a successful surgery, donating her kidney to a patient in Georgia who needed a transplant.

While Mitchell’s kidney did not go to the acquaintance she initially hoped to help, her decision set a powerful chain of events into motion. Through a nationwide kidney donor exchange network, Mitchell’s donation helped another patient receive a lifesaving transplant, which in turn allowed her acquaintance, who lives in California, to receive a kidney in December 2025.

Nationwide donor exchange programs work by connecting incompatible donor‑recipient pairs across the country. When a donor is unable to give directly to their intended recipient, they may donate to another patient, sometimes triggering a donor chain that allows multiple transplants to occur. This system maximizes the number of lives saved while honoring each donor’s original intent to help someone in need.

Mitchell has since returned to her daily life and continues to advocate for organ donation awareness, hoping her story will encourage others to consider becoming donors.

In recognition of Donate Life Month and the generosity of donors like Mitchell, Piedmont Athens Regional will host a Celebration of Life ceremony at the end of the month.

Donor families, friends, and community members are invited to join the Celebration of Life on Thursday, April 30, from 1 to 2 p.m., beginning in the hospital’s community garden, located behind the Medical Services Building. The ceremony will include:

• The planting of an azalea
• Raising of the Donate Life flag
• Adding the names of our 2025 donors to the donor tree, honoring and remembering all of those patients who have given the gift of life.

According to national data, more than 100,000 people in the United States are currently waiting for a life‑saving organ transplant. Living donors play a critical role in saving and enhancing lives.

To learn more about organ donation or to register as a donor, visit donatelife.net.