William Chiu knows all too well how kidney disease quietly devastates a life.
William had witnessed it firsthand in his older brother, Kyle (Foster)—the workouts he couldn’t quite finish, the weight he couldn’t seem to keep on. His brother had been fighting his kidney condition for years without either of them realizing it.
The silent, relentless decline
In 2019, a routine checkup revealed Kyle was already in late-stage kidney disease. At just 33, he was diagnosed with IgA nephropathy, a rare condition in which the immune system attacks the kidneys. Doctors hoped medication and clinical trials could hold the disease at bay for up to two decades. Instead, the condition progressed rapidly, and Kyle’s kidneys failed over time, leaving him dependent on peritoneal dialysis every day.
“You could literally see him going down, down, down,” William, now 37, painfully recalls. “He was barely walking at certain points, which was so hard to watch.”
The race against time
The time came for Kyle to pursue a living-donor transplant at St. Michael’s Hospital, which has the second largest kidney transplant programs in Canada. William didn’t think twice about volunteering his kidney, even though his blood type was different from Kyle’s. That’s because St. Michael’s offers a first-of-its-kind ABO-incompatible transplant. This allows patients with end-stage renal disease to receive a living kidney when the donor’s blood type doesn’t match their own.
The innovation was driven by Kyle’s nephrologist, Dr. Jeff Zaltzman, Medical Director of the Hospital’s Kidney and Metabolism Program.
"Since 2011, St. Michael’s is the only transplant program in North America doing blood group incompatible kidney transplants using proprietary advances. This has allowed us to carry out procedures for more patients–those that otherwise couldn’t have happened.” – Dr. Jeff Zaltzman, nephrologist and Medical Director of the Kidney and Metabolism Program
But Kyle still had reservations.
“At first, I didn’t want William to become a donor because he has two young kids and a wife, and I didn’t want this to impact his family life,” Kyle recalls. “But his unconditional support meant the world to me during what was the most trying time of my life.”
The nephrology team fast-tracked William’s kidney testing, recognizing how little time Kyle had. He passed. And in November 2025, Kyle’s surgery went ahead once the apheresis team removed B antibodies from Kyle’s blood, which is critical to ABO-incompatible transplants.
The health team that left nothing to chance
The contrast between the brothers’ recoveries was stark and immediate. Kyle, who had spent years in slow decline, was able to sit up and walk within a day of receiving his new kidney. For William, the road back was more challenging, and he was barely able to move in his bed for the five days he was in the hospital.
But William was constantly supported by the health team, from the surgeons and nurses who offered reassurance and comfort to the social workers who helped navigate the smallest logistical hurdles. At every stage of his recovery, someone was there for him.
“It couldn’t happen without everyone doing their part,” William says. “That means everything to a patient when you’re feeling that vulnerable.”
Two brothers, one remarkable journey
Three months on, William is “back to himself,” returning to his workouts and resuming indoor golf. He’s even driving the ball longer and faster than ever, at levels he never thought were possible so soon after surgery. Kyle, no longer on daily dialysis, is getting stronger each day, looking forward to running and working out with William once more and maybe taking up golf like his brother.
The experience has left Kyle with profound gratitude—for his brother who donated his kidney and for the health team who made the transplant not only possible, but a success.
“I’m grateful to William for giving me such an enormous gift—this second chance at life,” he says. “I’m also thankful for my nephrologist, Dr. Zaltzman, and my surgeon, Dr. Michael Ordon, as well as the nurses and entire apheresis team for everything they did for me.”
The decision to pay it forward
Since Kyle’s kidney transplant, William has shared their story online as the “One-kidney Golfer.” Additionally, he and Kyle each made a donation toward kidney research at St. Michael’s—something they hope will inspire others.
“Whether your donation supports a top research fellow or student, or vital piece of equipment,” William says, “every contribution helps to advance the life-saving care at St. Mike’s.”
Donate to St. Michael's Hospital Foundation.
