'Grab hold of life and keep it': Moore County man gives thanks for kidney transplant

Kidney transplant wait times in NC vary by center

Auman ended up waiting seven years before he got good news. Chou recently met with him to talk about the moment he got "the call" -- and what life is like now.

"I'm doing great now," Auman told Chou during their interview at his home.

Auman, now 70, remembers his long wait for a life-saving kidney. He said the call finally came in May 2018, and he had two hours to get to UNC Hospitals with his wife, Vicky.

"It wasn't a time to be excited," Auman said. "You couldn't get excited because you're too busy getting everything together."

Once they were at the hospital, all thoughts turned to the kidney donor.

"She was deceased -- and she was able to give several organs, which was really, really great," Auman said. "And of course I thought a lot about the parents of the 20-year-old who gave the kidney."

Auman is one of several people enjoying a longer life because of that family's consent to donate the woman's organs.

"It's a great kidney," Auman joked. "I'll tell you that. It's just a good -- it's a good kidney."

Auman said his most painful memory of the experience are the friends he made who were also on the waiting list.

"I lost three friends," Auman said. "They died."

Chou asked Auman what advice he would give to people who went through what he did.

"Grab hold of life, and keep it," said Auman, who looks forward to being a new grandfather in just over a month. "There are a lot of things to look forward to. There's nothing in my life that isn't good - except thinking back."