WALKER, LA – Just over a year ago, two cousins—bound by love and now by a shared kidney—underwent a journey that forever changed their lives.
In April 2023, then-20-year-old Emily Sofranec was a college freshman at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette when her health took a sudden and devastating turn. What began as fatigue and recurring sicknesses quickly escalated into soaring blood pressure and a diagnosis of kidney failure. With her kidneys shutting down, Emily urgently needed a transplant.
Family and friends rallied around her, volunteering to be tested as potential donors. In the end, her cousin Alexis McDonald, 28, proved to be the perfect match. On July 22, 2024, Alexis selflessly donated her kidney to Emily, giving her younger cousin a second chance at life…