‘God sent her to me’: Washington woman donates kidney to navy veteran at VCU Health

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- It’s a story of selfless generosity that traveled the entire length of the country, and ended at VCU Health. A Washington State woman, inspired by her military family, donated a kidney to a Navy veteran she had never met, giving him a renewed lease on life.

For 67-year-old retired veteran James Ellis, who served 20 years as a helicopter mechanic in the U.S. Navy, life in Maryland for the past several years meant being tied to dialysis -- in need of a kidney transplant.

“I did all the different types of dialysis. I did the PD where they put the tube into your stomach and you know pump the fluid in you and drain it out," Ellis said.

After waiting on the living donor list, his prayers were answered in spring 2025.

“April came and I get a phone call that morning and it was the DOVE program saying, 'We have a kidney for you.' I thought it was a dream and everything," Ellis said.

That life-saving match was 43-year-old Alisha Beesinger, a mother from Lake Bay, Washington. Alisha, whose husband and son have military connections, felt compelled to help after being inspired by a Facebook post.

“I started looking into living donation, and the more I researched it, the more I was like, why aren't more people doing this?" Beesinger said.

Alisha connected with the Donor Outreach for Veterans (DOVE) program. DOVE specializes in supporting donors throughout the process by covering major expenses -- including travel, lodging, and other out-of-pocket costs -- so they don't face financial hurdles. All medical evaluations and testing are handled directly by the transplant centers.

“I got a phone call from VCU, saying that they had a match for me and asked me what I was doing in June. And, and if that would be a good time to donate, I said ‘Absolutely,'" Beesinger said.

On June 16, the two met in Richmond for a successful, robotically-performed transplant at VCU Health, facilitated by DOVE. Each surgery took approximately 2.5-3 hours from start to finish.

“It was very surreal to be sitting there with him, to know that my my kidney was now, working and functioning inside of him, said Beesinger. "I look at it as I had six weeks of recovery and downtime, and for him, that's a lifetime with a new kidney.”

For James Ellis, Alisha's gift delivered a life of freedom.

“Life has been great. It's been great. Ever since then we've been traveling. I was a softball umpire for 15 years, and I'm planning on going back to that," he said.

Despite living thousands of miles apart, they now consider each other family.

“We text back and forth and Jim's a big Eagles fan. I try to text him when I see the Eagles are winning," Beesinger said. "The next time we get a chance to go back to the East Coast, that will definitely be part of getting to go and visit and getting to catch back up with them.”

Alisha's gift not only saved his life -- her kidney gave him a future.

“Life has been great. It's been great. Ever since then we've been traveling," Ellis said. “I was a softball. Softball umpire for 15 years, and I'm planning on going back to that.” 

There are currently 360 Veterans registered with DOVE who are actively waiting for a kidney transplant at centers across the U.S. With an ongoing nationwide need for living kidney donors for these veterans, DOVE encourages anyone interested in helping to contact them at https://dovetransplant.org/.