ROCKFORD, Mich. — Two longtime coworkers and neighbors turned to the National Kidney Registry's paired program to make a life-saving kidney transplant possible when they weren't compatible matches.
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Matt Evans and Scott Pitcher met nearly 30 years ago while working at the post office and discovered they lived within five minutes of each other. Their friendship took on new meaning in 2021 when Pitcher, who was born with only one kidney, learned his kidney had a cancerous tumor.
"I felt my faith was really being tested at that point," said Pitcher, who became dependent on dialysis after losing his only kidney.
Evans wanted to donate a kidney to his friend, motivated by his own experience when his daughter Lily received a heart and double lung transplant years earlier.
"I'm forever grateful that Lily got her transplant, and you know we had those extra years," Evans said. "I just thought this was something that I really needed to do."
However, medical testing revealed the two men weren't compatible matches.
"It wasn't going to work. I wasn't going to get his kidney, but before he left my house, I gave him some information on the kidney pair program," Pitcher said.
The National Kidney Registry's paired program allows donors to give a kidney to someone else while their intended recipient receives a compatible kidney from a different donor.
On Nov. 11, 2025, both men underwent surgery. Evans donated a kidney to a patient in New York while Pitcher received a kidney from an unknown donor.
"My kidney's out doing whatever it's doing. You know, hopefully it's a perfect match for somebody else who got it. And then here I am, I get to see Scott, and he's like doing great," Evans said.
Registered Nurse Jill Wagner, a kidney transplant center liaison at Trinity Health, said the paired program provides crucial opportunities for patients.
"It's huge for our patients. It gives them additional opportunities, additional chances at, you know, coming off dialysis, having a longer, healthier life, getting back to riding a bike again, getting back to living," Wagner said.
Nine months after the surgery, Pitcher has returned to bike riding, and both men are doing well. Evans said he doesn't miss his kidney and feels fulfilled by his decision.
"I can't really think of the words, how good I feel, and what's really cool is every so often I hear my little girl say, 'Good job, Dad. Good job,'" Evans said.
The two friends plan to continue bike riding together in the future.
For more information on Trinity Health Kidney Transplant Center, CLICK HERE.
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