Tel: 1 (833) RING-NTI
The Dream to
'End the Wait'
Nevada Transplant Institute® (NTI) was born from the dream to 'End the Wait' for Nevadans waiting on a second chance at life through organ donation. NTI expands transplantation services across the state, increases access, lowers costs, and enhances research and education in the field of donation transplantation.
661 Nevadans Are Waiting For:
575
KIDNEY
51
LIVER
16
HEART
2
LUNG
19
KIDNEY/PANCREAS
2
INTESTINE
5
PANCREAS
*Statistics from OPTN data as of October 2024.
Transplant Stories
Chris Connolly
Liver Transplant Recipient
On July 2, 2021, an emergency room doctor diagnosed Chris Connolly with end-stage liver failure and gave him three months to live.
“It was devastating news to myself and my family. How do you process something like that?” said Connolly.
His condition became critical at the end of October, but with no transplant center in northern Nevada all options became increasingly difficult.
“My wife started to reach out to hospitals as far away as Arizona, University of San Francisco, Stanford Medical University, and the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. We kept getting the same answer. We would love to help, but there’s no room,” Connolly said.
Prior to 2024, the option for anyone in northern Nevada in need of a life-saving transplant was to move or die.
Patients have to relocate because they have to prove to a transplant center that they can get there in a moment’s time for when an organ becomes available. They also have to have the financial resources to live in and around that new area.
Massiel Smith
Kidney Transplant Recipient
Massiel is a grateful recipient who continues to fight on behalf of the hero who gave her the ultimate gift. As a teenager, she was diagnosed with IgA nephropathy, a type of kidney disease that would ultimately require a kidney transplant. As she began a career in dialysis, she gained new perspective to survive. A year later, she was on the transplant waiting list and decided to volunteer with Nevada Donor Network, an organ procurement organization that serves the state of Nevada. During a volunteer event, Massiel met a donor mom who shared her story about her son. She didn't mention her journey surrounding needing a transplant, but it truly was a moment which reminded her to keep fighting. Two years after this pivotal meeting, she received the call that she had been anxiously hoping for, her ultimate gift, a kidney transplant. She called this time the most pure and humbling part of her journey. Due to the lack of a transplant center in the Reno area, Massiel had to travel and relocate her life to Washington in order to receive her lifesaving gift.
