Northern Sask. couple gives new meaning to 'perfect match' with kidney donation

Darla Ponace · CBC News

· Posted: May 04, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

A bluish mates who person been unneurotic for a decennary were blessed to larn they were the cleanable lucifer for kidney donation.

Crystal Morin-Marinuk and her hubby Darwin Morin person been unneurotic for 10 years. They person been dealing with trials and tribulations astir Darwin's wellness since the beginning.

"When we archetypal started dating, helium had already been suffering from immoderate of the effects of kidney disease, arsenic his kidneys were starting to fail," Crystal said.

Darwin, who is Type 1 diabetic from childhood, was successful request of a kidney transplant.

"I noticed conscionable a batch of deterioration with everything, with his strength, with the mode helium moved astir and headaches," Crystal said.

As they waited years for a lucifer with an eligible donor, she witnessed him becoming much and much sick.

"I started to think, 'We request to effort and spot if we person immoderate household that mightiness beryllium a match.' Then I thought, 'I deliberation I request to trial arsenic well,'" Crystal said.

She said she knew the chances of her being a lucifer wasn't great, but they were desperate.

"I can't bash this day-to-day and person that small thought astatine the backmost of my mind," Crystal remembers thinking. "What if, conscionable what if, there's a accidental that we match?"

They took a crossmatch test, which determines whether 2 radical are compatible for donation.

After waiting weeks for the results, they received the biggest quality of their lives. They were a match.

"They conscionable said, 'Do you cognize this person? Are you related?' And I'm like, 'No, this isn't … this is my partner, this is my, this is my fiancé."

She said she heard nurses successful the inheritance cheering for them.

"I started crying," she said. "I had each this quality and nary 1 to tell. It was rather an affectional roller-coaster." 

When her fiancé got location they celebrated the news. She said he was successful disbelief.

"I said, I person thing to archer you. And he's like, 'We're not a match.' I was like, 'No, we are a match.' And he's like, 'Please don't lie.'"

She said talking astir it inactive brings tears to her eyes.

From there, the mates prepared for the transplant. Everything went smoothly, from recovery all the mode to marriage. The mates volition present observe their one-year wedding day successful July.

Medical proscription for bluish residents

With Darwin's transplant complete, the mates present tally a aesculapian proscription institution to thrust different bluish radical from La Ronge to Saskatoon for dialysis oregon different medical appointments.

"In the northbound determination is nary entree to a dialysis unit," Crystal said.

According to the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) website, astir 50 to 60 radical successful Saskatchewan are presently waiting for a kidney transplant.

The mean hold for a kidney is 2.8 years, which means an mean of 437 dialysis treatments per idiosyncratic arsenic they wait, SHA says.

"The magnitude of clip a diligent whitethorn hold for a transplant depends connected galore things: diligent wellness and wellness, clip retired of country, humor time, sensitization to sanction a few," SHA says.

Crystal said they person 4 regulars who person appointments 3 times a week.

The thrust from La Ronge to Saskatoon is astir 4 hours and many need to marque stops on the way. The dialysis appointments tin instrumentality different 4 hours. That means 12 to 13 hours away from home.

Crystal said it's hard connected the patients, but it's their lone option.

"Darwin and I person got to cognize these radical truthful good they go portion of the family," she said.

"We're with them truthful overmuch of the time, truthful we truly acquisition and perceive what they're going through."

She said it tin beryllium truly hard astatine times, due to the fact that they person mislaid immoderate of the radical they transport who they turn adjacent to and person considered friends, who weren't arsenic fortunate to person a kidney transplant.

"We program to bash this for a agelong time," she said. "It is simply a precise strenuous job, it's a batch of enactment driving. But until determination is simply a dialysis centre acceptable up for the north, this is the lone enactment that determination is close present for these individuals."