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    New Kidney From Sister Gives Hurdler a Chance at 2016 Olympics

Olympian Aries Merritt with sister in hospital for kidney transplant

This patient story originally appeared September 16, 2015 in Sharing Mayo Clinic

Heads turned when Aries Merritt walked into the lobby at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix at 5 a.m. on Sept. 1, with family and TV cameras in tow. Just four days earlier, he won a bronze medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing. But, on this day, facing one of his biggest hurdles, he was about to undergo a lifesaving kidney transplant.

Aries, 30, was the obvious media hero because of his athletic achievements. He earned a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics and holds the world record in his sport. The unsung hero of the day was LaToya Hubbard, his sister, who was there to donate one of her kidneys to her brother.

LaToya exhibited little, if any, trepidation about her pending surgery. She said it was her honor. “I would do anything for my baby brother,” she says. Read the rest of LaToya and Aries' story.

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