Colorado couple celebrating Valentine's Day after wife donates kidney to husband
Colorado couple Ashley and Jimmy Cleverly were living a picture perfect life, until a diagnosis left Jimmy in need of a kidney. But his wife Ashley turned out to be his savior.
The young couple eloped in 2021 during Covid, had their first baby and an official wedding ceremony in 2022, and bought their first house in 2023.
"At that point, we thought, everything was perfect. Everything was too good," recalled Jimmy and Ashley as they sat in the lobby of AdventHealth Porter.
But just a few months later, that picture perfect life went dark.
"My original symptom was I woke up and I couldn't see out of my right eye," Jimmy remembered. "It was black vision in my right eye."
Jimmy was diagnosed with IgA Nephropathy, a chronic kidney disease. Just a few months later, by April of 2024, his kidney function was below 20%.
"It felt like a nightmare," said Ashley. "Every single appointment, every appointment, every blood draw, none of the information was every better. It was always worse."
Ashley admitted she was worried she might lose her husband. "I thought I was going to be a widow or taking care of a very sick husband for a long time. In our 30's. It was a shock. It didn't feel real."
As Jimmy's health declined it became clear he needed a kidney transplant. No one in his family was a viable donor, but as fate would have it, Ashley was a perfect match.
"It turned out all along I was sleeping next to my savior," Jimmy said with a smile.
Despite being a match, the couple wasn't immediately in love with the idea of Ashley donating one of her kidneys to Jimmy.
"She already sacrificed enough for me through marriage and through children. I wasn't sure if I was ready to accept that gift at the time," Jimmy recalled. "It's the best gift I've ever received, but the hardest one to receive."
"I wanted to say yes instantly, but I had to think about our daughter. We have a two-and-a-half-year-old who needs both her parents. It was exciting and scary at the same time," Ashley remembered. "It's still a very weird, eerie feeling for me. I was like, 'If I can do this for him and everything is going to be perfect then great, but what if somebody doesn't wake up?'"
The couple decided to go through with the transplant and in July of 2024 underwent surgery at AdventHealth Porter.
Now, seven months later, they can walk through the hospital doors more in love, and more connected, than ever before.
"I know it sounds cliche, but it's given me a new lease on life," said Jimmy. "I no longer assume I've got more time ahead of me."
"It was a bad dream, right? That's what it was last year," said Ashley. "And now that we've had such a second chance at everything. I'm just so happy. I feel so much more grateful that we are this much closer."
