Just six months after receiving a new kidney, Todd Mills was ready for a 4.5-kilometre walk to help others like himself.
"I haven't jumped into too much physical activity yet ... Next year I'll probably do the run and get right into it," said Todd before the start of the Give the Gift of Life Fun Run and Walk on Sunday morning.
The White City resident, who will turn 28 in two weeks, was the lucky recipient of a kidney donation in March. He, along with his wife Crystal and three-year-old daughter Eve, led the first annual walk, which raises money and awareness for organ donation in Canada.
Todd and Crystal were newlyweds and expecting their first child when he learned that, at age 24, he was turned down for a life insurance application.
"I was kind of surprised and sort of in disbelief. I found out I had a kidney disease and went from there. It progressed pretty rapidly and I ended up on dialysis. That was quite the life changing experience," explained Todd.
Crystal said it was devastating at first to learn of his illness. She admitted it was very tough to be juggling a baby while caring and worrying about her husband.
"If you can take it away from that individual at that point is what you try to do and carry a lot of it on your own. It was difficult at first because we had no idea what to expect," she explained.
Todd started dialysis when he was 26 due to the deterioration of his kidney function and was placed on the waiting list for a transplant. He received his new kidney on March 15.
"I had a couple rough patches after that but beyond that, I'm here now and everything is looking good so far," he said.
Roughly 100 people were expected to take part in Sunday's event with recipients of organ donations wearing green T-shirts to distinguish them in the crowd.
The event was designed to raise awareness of organ donation for which Canada has one of the worst records in the developed world.
Todd admitted organ donation was something he really didn't think about until he was in need of one.
"People do take their bodies for granted and it is such an easy thing to say, 'I'll donate my organs to someone else' but people don't do it. I don't know what it is, I was the same way. It took something like this to open my eyes. That's why I'm out here to hopefully encourage other people to do that same," he said.
Todd credits his wife and daughter for pulling him through the difficult time. While there were a few bumps in his recovery, Todd's admitted he is feeling really good.
"Maybe in the last six or seven weeks, I've really turned the corner and started to feel like myself again," he said.
