A fated meeting on a hike saved his life!

Krissy Miller felt a strong pull to become a living organ donor, but her high blood sugar made her ineligible. Determined to make a difference, she lost 30 pounds—and soon after, crossed paths with Shiller Joseph on a hiking trail. He needed a kidney, and Krissy turned out to be the perfect match!

- —Bill Holton

Your blood sugar is three points over the cutoff. I'm afraid that disqualifies you,” the doctor told Krissy Miller as her heart sank. Krissy, a Provo, Utah, mom of four, had hoped to donate a kidney to a local dad named Trever. She'd researched being a living donor and spent a day at the hospital undergoing tests. Everything checked out—until the blood sugar results came back.

“Perhaps if you lose 10 pounds, you can donate to someone later,” the doctor said, but Krissy had tried dieting before—the extra pounds always came back.

“It's just not in God's plan for me,” Krissy told her husband, Chris. But as winter turned to spring she thought, It's time for a lifestyle change. And she knew just where to begin her journey.

A new beginning

Once a week, Krissy hiked the steep 1-mile trail rising 1,100 feet up what locals call Y Mountain. “I'll do it three times a week—maybe more,” she decided, and that day she reached the top faster than ever.

Krissy stuck to her plan, and in less than three months, she lost over 30 pounds. She felt so great that she began wondering once again if she should revisit the idea of being a living donor.