Labor secretary's kidney transplant inspires organ donation advocacy

Marcia Hultman on mend after decision to give organ

Secretarty of Labor Marcia Hultman with Dr. Sujit Sakpal, a transplant surgeon and critical care specialist at the Avera Transplant Institute, after donating her kidney. (Submitted)

About 5,833 living people donated one of their kidneys in 2024.

Marcia Hultman, 61, never thought she would be one of those people. That is, until she found herself at a high school reunion with friends in Belle Fourche.

“Back in 2021, I had a close friend from there just casually sharing that she needed a kidney transplant,” Hultman explained. “I walked away from that conversation literally thinking ‘why not me?’”

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