18-year-old girl saves her mother's life by donating a kidney and urges others to become a donor

A mom gives their child the gift of life. In this case, 18-year-old Brooke Lyle returned the favor. Her mom, Jessica Jordan, of North Richland Hills, Texas, had been suffering from debilitating pain for years. Doctors learned that it was a result of granulomatosis with polyangiitis, a rare autoimmune disease. The mom-of-five told Good Morning America, "I could hardly walk. I was in a lot of pain, like everywhere. Finally, when I was diagnosed, my body was already shutting down and it affected my kidneys because it's a very aggressive disease if you don't catch it right away. I did almost die when I got diagnosed, but treatment and everything worked pretty good."

Jordan was diagnosed 12 years ago and suffered from swelling and inflammation of the body's blood vessels. It can limit blood flow to organs such as the lungs and kidneys, damaging the organs. "It slowly started affecting my kidneys and then they started me on dialysis," she explained, adding that doctors revealed right from the start that she would eventually need a kidney transplant. The family turned to Alfred Daniel Tucker, her twin brother, to donate a kidney to her, but sadly, he died unexpectedly on August 13, 2021, from COVID-19, which also affected his organs and therefore, he could not be a donor. That's when Jordan's daughter decided to step in.

Despite being just a teenager, she knew she wanted to do whatever it took to help her mom. "I just was like, 'OK, I'll do it' and that was it," Lyle said. "I did all this research and I was like, 'OK, I am gonna do it' because obviously, I'm going to think about all of the terrible things that are gonna happen for doing this, but there really isn't that much I'm giving up that's worth giving up my mom."

At first, Jordan was reluctant because her daughter was so young and had her whole life ahead of her. "I would not have put my daughter in any situation that I thought it was gonna affect her later," Jordan said. "We both spoke to counselors and they did talk to her without me to make sure she wasn't pressured into it or anything like that, which was awesome. And I told her from the very beginning that even at the point of surgery, they even told her that if she wanted to back out, that she could."

But she persisted and was determined to give her mom a second lease on life. The medical procedures, one donation surgery and one transplant surgery went smoothly and Jordan said she feels "great" two months after receiving the donated kidney from her daughter. They were even able to recover together at Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center – Fort Worth in Texas. "She's healthy and I'm healthy and the doctors just tell me I got such an awesome kidney," Jordan said. "Right away, it started working and I feel it. I feel great."

Lyle is now hoping others will be inspired to be a donor. "A lot of people aren't aware. You can live with one kidney," Jordan said. "If you can donate now, do it. If not, donate when you pass on and give life to someone else. Because you will live on like that, or at least a little part of you will." 

According to kidney.org, a "living donation takes place when a living person donates an organ or part of an organ to someone in need of a transplant. The donor is most often a close family member, such as a parent, child, brother or sister. Non-directed donors - those who donate anonymously and do not know their recipients - are also becoming more common."