{"id":9545,"date":"2024-04-30T10:00:06","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T14:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gatransplant.org\/?p=9545"},"modified":"2024-05-01T09:22:31","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T13:22:31","slug":"spotlight-daly-perfect-match-scholarship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/spotlight-daly-perfect-match-scholarship\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotlight: Daly “Perfect Match” Scholarship"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Connie Daly’s life took a tumultuous turn in 2003 with a diagnosis that shattered her world: chronic kidney disease. Through the ensuing years of grueling treatments and medications, her quest for a compatible kidney donor felt like an endless journey. Several compatibility tests came and went, but still, no match. Ultimately, her savior came in the form of someone unexpected: her husband. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ed and Connie Daly went six for six on matching antigens, an incredibly rare feat for people who are not related. Miraculously, her perfect match in marriage had now become her perfect match in transplant. In 2009, Connie finally received her second chance at life via her husband\u2019s kidney. Connie remembers it as \u201can absolute miracle. Ed is a real hero.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lending a Helping Hand<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

15 years later, Connie and Ed are both still doing well. It really is \u201ca happy ending story,\u201d Connie shared. Although things worked out for Connie, she couldn’t ignore the plight of others in the transplant community. It was this empathy that led her to volunteer with GTF. Connie’s determination to make a difference in the lives of those still waiting for their miracle was palpable. After several years, Connie joined the scholarship committee that selects which applicants receive scholarships from GTF each year.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connie recalls one year when there were so many good applicants that \u201ctugged at [her] heartstrings. There were just too many people left over that I felt were deserving, and there weren\u2019t enough scholarships available.\u201d That\u2019s when Connie decided to fund her own scholarship, appropriately named the Daly \u201cPerfect Match\u201d Scholarship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dalys have worked to fund the scholarship so that it can maintain a lasting legacy. Connie shared that she \u201cjust wanted to be able to take the pressure off for someone, even a small amount. Whether it\u2019s tuition or books, to be able to take care of something for these kids who are trying so hard and have a lot of other stresses in their lives is everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Parallel Journey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps no \u201ckid\u201d embodies the type of person Connie set out to help more than Mikayla Cleary. Her father, Rohan, received a kidney disease diagnosis in 2011. As it progressively got worse, he found himself on dialysis. As the years went on, with Mom and Dad having to focus their attention on his health, Mikayla stepped into something of a parental role for her younger sister. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Her Mother, Jeannette, remembers that \u201cMikayla not only became a caretaker, but a leader.\u201d As a senior in high school, Mikayla helped her father get to his appointments, took care of her sister, captained the cheerleading team, and won homecoming queen, all while maintaining a 3.7 GPA. Jeannette recalled that \u201cshe was so strong at such a young age. She had more responsibility than 99% of kids her age.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, Rohan, too, found his savior in the person closest to him. Jeannette miraculously was his perfect match as well. Rohan received his wife\u2019s kidney and is now in good health. Jeannette has a rosy perspective on the hardships her family went through. \u201cI\u2019m grateful for our journey,\u201d she shared. \u201cIt was overwhelming, but we took it in stride. We did everything that we had to do, and through the grace of God, we became closer as a family. It was a life-changing journey for all of us, and we came out of it more faithful and more in tune with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Happy Ending<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

With the parallels between the Daly\u2019s and Cleary\u2019s stories, Mikayla was an obvious candidate for receiving the Daly \u201cPerfect Match\u201d Scholarship. Jeannette remembers that her family \u201cwas under a large financial burden. We had to take off work for a while, and combined with the price of Rohan\u2019s medicines, it was a lot.\u201d For the Clearys, the scholarship \u201ccame right on time.\u201d Mikayla was able to use her scholarship to propel her through her time at Georgia State, where she\u2019ll be graduating from this week with her degree in exercise science. Jeannette and the Clearys are \u201cextremely thankful for GTF and the Daly \u201cPerfect Match\u201d Scholarship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the transplant world, the recipient and the donor receive the majority of the focus. While that attention is warranted, Mikayla’s story demonstrates the importance of every single person involved in the organ transplant process. As a dependent of an organ recipient, Mikayla stepped up as a caretaker, taking on responsibilities she could\u2019ve never imagined, all while maintaining her excellent standing as a student. GTF offers scholarships that aid all members of the transplant community, including dependents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more about the Daly \u201cPerfect Match\u201d Scholarship and to apply to GTF\u2019s Academic Scholarship Program, please visit Academic Scholarships | Georgia Transplant Foundation (gatransplant.org)<\/a>.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Connie Daly’s life took a tumultuous turn in 2003 with a diagnosis that shattered her world: chronic kidney disease. Through the ensuing years of grueling treatments and medications, her quest…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":9547,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[78,62,71,69],"class_list":["post-9545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-gtf-voices","tag-scholarship","tag-transplant","tag-voices"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9545"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9556,"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9545\/revisions\/9556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gatransplant.blackbaudwp.com\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}