Utah Mom's Prayer on Mountain Trail Leads to Life-Changing Kidney Donation and New ‘Brother'
"Your blood sugar is three points over the cutoff. I'm afraid that disqualifies you,' the doctor told Krissy Miller as her heart sank. Krissy, a Provo, Utah, mom of four, had hoped to donate a kidney to a local dad named Trever. She'd researched being a living donor and spent a day at the hospital undergoing tests. Everything checked out—until the blood sugar results came back.
'Perhaps if you lose 10 pounds, you can donate to someone later,' the doctor said, but Krissy had tried dieting before—the extra pounds always came back.
'It's just not in God's plan for me,' Krissy told her husband, Chris. But as winter turned to spring she thought, It's time for a lifestyle change. And she knew just where to begin her journey.
A new beginning
Once a week, Krissy hiked the steep 1-mile trail rising 1,100 feet up what locals call Y Mountain. 'I'll do it three times a week—maybe more,' she decided, and that day she reached the top faster than ever.
Krissy stuck to her plan, and in less than three months, she lost over 30 pounds. She felt so great that she began wondering once again if she should revisit the idea of being a living donor.
One morning before beginning her hike, she sent up a prayer, God, please help me find clarity, and either go forward with this or set it aside forever.
Meanwhile, just 4 miles away, Rhona Joseph told her husband, Shiller, 'Come on. Let's get up and get outside. You really need some exercise.'
The couple had recently moved to Utah from Florida since Rhona had family nearby, and the waiting list for a kidney transplant was shorter than it was in Florida.
Shiller was only 20 when he was diagnosed with lupus and it slowly began attacking his kidneys. The former EMT and firefighter was 400 pounds, his blood pressure skyrocketed, and eventually, he needed dialysis. 'We put you on the waiting list, but it could take up to seven years here in Florida,' the doctor said glumly.
In Utah, the waiting list was considerably shorter, but Shiller still needed to stay healthy enough to undergo the surgery when a kidney came available.
'Let's go,' Rhona bounded up Y Mountain, Shiller huffing and puffing his way behind.
Right time for a miracle
The trail has 14 switchbacks, but Shiller only made it to the fourth. 'This is as far as I go,' he panted, his Miami Heat T-shirt soaked in sweat.
It was this shirt that first snagged Krissy's attention as she descended the trail. 'Are you from Florida?' she asked, and when Shiller said yes, she asked, 'What do you like about Utah?'
'For one thing, the kidney transplant list is much shorter here,' Shiller explained as a joke, sending a shiver of electricity through Krissy's entire body.
'You're not going to believe this,' she fought back tears, and told the couple the story of her failed effort to become a living donor. 'I'll have to talk it over with my husband, but I think I'm ready to try again,' Krissy said, and when she learned they were the same blood type, she had no doubt they'd be a match.
'I asked God for a sign and He sent one,' she marveled. Not only were Krissy and Shiller a tissue match, 'You could be siblings,' the transplant coordinator said. 'We'll schedule surgery as soon as possible.'
'Hey sis, this is your last chance to back out,' Shiller called to Krissy as they lay on separate gurneys just outside the OR before the surgery.
'Not a chance,' Krissy replied, and later that same day after the surgery, a nurse told her, 'Shiller's new kidney is already working wonders.'
A happy ending
It wasn't long before Krissy was hiking up Y Mountain again, only these days she has a partner. 'Wait for me!' she called during one recent hike when Shiller took off running the last rise to the top.
Shiller still visits the dialysis clinic regularly—not for treatment, but to offer hope and inspiration to others waiting for their own transplants. 'God sent me a miracle, an angel, a sister for life,' he says.
Krissy feels the same, and she was thrilled when she learned the man she'd originally hoped to give a kidney also wound up with a successful transplant. 'I feel blessed God gave me this opportunity and experience,' she says. 'Among other lessons, He wanted to show me and others that despite our differences, inside we're really all the same.'
This article originally appeared in the August 18, 2025, issue of Woman's World magazine. Get your copy here.
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