Fire truck mechanic donates kidney, sparking chain reaction; will be honoured at Stampede

Nick Clayson, a Calgary Fire Department mechanic will be honoured at the Stampede on Monday for his heroic act of donating an organ.

Nick Clayson, a fire truck mechanic for the Calgary Fire Department since January 2024, donated one of his kidneys following the death of a close friend.

Clayson says he received an email in April last year from the International Association of Fire Fighters looking for kidney donors in partnership with Kidneys for Communities.

He says his friend Arne died of kidney failure, and that sparked him to get tested, hoping to be a match for someone and hopefully save their life.

“I’d always regretted not doing something about that, like being tested to see whether I could have been a match,” said Clayson.

“So, I promised myself that if the call ever came, I would respond to that call.”

Clayson was deemed a viable match just days later.

Clayson had surgery in December 2024, and his kidney was matched with a teacher in San Diego who needed a rare kidney to match.

That set off a chain reaction of donations.

“That transplant resulted in her donor donating to another individual who’s a veteran in California, and that veteran was also difficult to match,” said Kidneys for Communities CEO Atul Agnihotri.

“Ultimately, this series of transplants led to the transplant of a first responder, a community member in New York. This individual has a very interesting profile. He’s a veteran. He was a first responder at the Twin Towers when 9/11 happened.”

Clayson said he initially wanted his kidney to go to a first responder, and when he found out his donation led to a trickledown effect, he eventually got that wish.

“I don’t think you can really put it into words. All I know is that it’s been the most rewarding experience in my life,” said Clayson.

“It would have taken that teacher hundreds and hundreds of donors to have found a match, which is just not a practical thing,” said Agnihotri.

“She may have stayed without a transplant in her life. So, Nick’s kidney was God’s gift to her.”

Clayson’s recovery was about 10 weeks before he returned to work.

“I was out to save one person, and it was just icing on the cake,” said Clayson, when finding out he helped get two others a kidney.

Kidneys for Communities says about 100,000 people in Canada and the U.S. are currently on a waitlist for a kidney donation.

They generally spend between five and seven years seeking out a donation, but many die on dialysis before a transplant can take place.

“We know that one out of every three patients who has a donor does not match their donor, meaning that they have a willing donor, but they will die in absence of finding a kidney for themselves,” said Agnihotri.

Clayson will be honoured during the Calgary Stampede’s Homegrown Heroes Night on July 7.

“All I can see in this thing happening at the ceremony is that it’ll bring about more awareness for the need that is out there,” said Clayson.

“Because even if it resonates in the heart of even several people to donate, it’ll be worth it.”

Clayson says he has one message for anyone thinking of donating.

“We have to overcome our fear. There’s a lot of fear attached to becoming a donor, whether it be a liver donor or a kidney donor, because we’re afraid for our own health,” he said.

“But I can honestly say my health has not been affected in any way.”