Future Athlete
Young Ryan Walker Is Already Winning
By Ray Mernagh

Ryan Walker won't be competing in the upcoming Transplant Games...yet. Ryan, who received a kidney from his mother Stephanie, is just a few months past his second birthday, but the way he's handled such adversity in his young life almost SCREAMS out future athlete.

Pictures of Ryan inevitably show him with a big smile on his face. Stephanie Walker and her husband Erin both emphasize how grateful they are to live in Pittsburgh, a city with such a strong support group for transplant patients and their families.

"We've met a lot of people through the transplant process," says Stephanie, "and we have one set of close friends that we've made going through this."

Walker explains that though their challenges are much different from their friends, they both can vent to each other about medications, doctors, and other things that people not in their situation would have a hard time relating to.

"The transplant community is extremely tight," says Walker, "even tighter in the pediatric population."

Stephanie Walker sometimes counsels families considering going to UPMC for a pediatric transplant, telling them how Ryan's experience - and hers - has been a good one.

Ryan?

He's a happy little boy that's made miraculous strides while having a healthy organ inside his tummy, strides not possible as little as twenty-to-thirty years ago.