Steve Kostiuk

Steve Kostiuk’s kidneys were functioning at just six percent, and his future was uncertain.

Kostiuk, who has lupus, faced kidney failure with limited options. His blood type ruled out immediate family as potential donors, leaving him dependent on the possibility of a living donor. A husband and father of four young children, he made his search public, sharing his story through social media and even placing advertisements on his car. His journey was later documented by CBS4.

Not long after the story aired, the call came.

“I was crying when they told me I had a donor,” Kostiuk said.

That donor turned out to be someone from his past. Chad Logan, a former high school football teammate from Jefferson High School in Edgewater, had not seen Kostiuk in two decades. Now living in Utah with his own wife and four children, Logan came across Kostiuk’s story online and felt compelled to act.

“I remember thinking, ‘I can fix this,’” Logan said.

He called the living donation hotline and was a match.

Surgeons at Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center in Denver prepared to perform the transplant, a procedure expected to dramatically extend Kostiuk’s life. Doctors say kidneys from living donors often last longer than those from deceased donors, with minimal long-term risk for healthy donors.

When the two men reunited during a pre-operative visit, Logan explained his decision in simple terms.

“He gave me four words I’ll never forget,” Kostiuk said. “‘Little girls need dads.’”

For Kostiuk and his wife, Jackie, the donation is a gift that can never be repaid—only honored, remembered, and carried forward.