Donor Dash Colorado participant knows both side of organ donation

Donor Dash Colorado brings about 5,000 people together in the community to remember loved ones and celebrate lifesaving transplants.  Families, teams and individuals walk the 5K course in honor of someone. In addition to the run/walk, there is a Memorial Garden, Wall of Honor, live music, resource village and a program that acknowledges all the ways that organ and tissue donations make such a big difference. Donor Alliance is an organ procurement organization working in Colorado and Wyoming who hosts the Donor Dash every year. 

"Organ donation has absolutely defined my life. I wouldn't be here without it," said Jenna McKinlay, an organ recipient. 

As a Denver native, McKinlay participated in the Donor Dash for years without knowing exactly how important that community would one day be for her. She received a liver donation two years ago. 

"I'm so lucky I have such a gift from an anonymous person that I just love," McKinlay said. 

She battled liver disease for six years, getting progressively worse. 

"I got really, really sick the last year before my transplant. I felt the end every day that year." 

She relied on friends and family including her brother Tommy, every step of the way. 

"He was a very, very deep thinker. He was very philosophical," she said of Tommy. 

While her recovery has been slow, McKinlay is now feeling all the benefits of having a new liver.

"I'm still like, 'Pinch me! I'm alive!,'" she said.

This year, McKinlay will be honoring her donor during Donor Dash, but she'll also be thinking about Tommy.

"He tragically passed away almost a year after my transplant," McKinlay told CBS News Colorado.

Tommy chose to be an organ donor and saved at least three lives.

"I have a hero that I love that I don't know, and I have a hero that I love that I do know."

That's what Donor Dash is all about -- acknowledging the hero's that are created through organ and tissue donation. 

LINK: Donor Dash Colorado

Donor Alliance is hosting Donor Dash Colorado on Sunday, July 19, 2026 at Washington Park.