Magnolia (Maggie) Knox loves her older sister, Allean Robertson, with all of her heart — and now with a kidney.

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The 58-year-old wife and mother of three has been a diabetic for 20 years and on dialysis and a waiting list for a kidney transplant for two years.

The retired L-3 Communications employee on medical disability said she was prepared to wait her lifetime for a kidney donor, preferably a stranger.

From the onset of her kidney ailments, she stressed to family members and friends not to consider themselves obligated to make the “sacrifice” of becoming her donor.

“She said she wouldn’t want to put someone through that,” Knox said days before the surgery.

However, Robertson and Knox both believed the odds were slim of Robertson becoming a donor recipient in the near future. There were strikes against Robertson, including the fact that she was an African American with diabetes.

According to the two sisters, health isn’t the only factor to become a kidney recipient. Finding a donor that genetically, racially and ethnically matched also is often vital for a successful kidney transplant. Yet, the increasing demand for African American kidney donors far outmatches the supply.

To lessen her sister’s odds and offer her a “better quality of life,” Knox said she made an appointment at the University of Michigan Hospital to be tested as a possible kidney donor for Robertson.

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