Conroe High School Transforms into Landmark 601

CONROE, Texas — For the Thweatt family of Conroe, the holiday season of 2023 will forever be marked by a miracle that began with a digital message and concluded in an operating room at Texas Children’s Hospital.

In December, two-and-a-half-year-old Stella Thweatt, who had spent the majority of her young life tethered to dialysis machines, received a life-saving kidney transplant. The donor was not a relative, but Dr. Christopher Van Wagner, a 36-year-old pediatric surgeon who answered a father’s desperate plea for help.

Born in May 2021, Stella was diagnosed immediately at birth with Posterior Urethral Valves (PUV), a rare congenital condition that obstructs the flow of urine out of the bladder and often leads to permanent kidney damage. The diagnosis quickly progressed to End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), forcing Stella into a grueling medical regimen. For 18 months, the toddler underwent peritoneal dialysis for 12 hours a day, seven days a week, from the comfort of her home.

As Stella’s health needs grew, her father, Clint Thweatt, began a quiet search for a living donor. Through professional connections in the medical device industry—specifically mutual ties to Stryker Medical—Clint reached out to Dr. Van Wagner via LinkedIn in August 2023. He laid out the family’s situation and asked if the surgeon would consider undergoing the testing process to see if he was a compatible match.

To the family’s astonishment, Van Wagner agreed to the evaluation. After weeks of rigorous medical screening, he received confirmation in early November that he was a match.

On December 1, 2023, the two underwent simultaneous surgeries at Texas Children’s Hospital. Dr. Amy Hogan performed the nephrectomy to remove the donor kidney, while Dr. Jennifer Felton led the surgical team that successfully transplanted the organ into Stella.

The surgery proved to be a milestone for the institution. Stella’s procedure was recorded as the 1,999th kidney transplant at Texas Children’s Hospital in 2023, a year that also saw the facility hit the landmark 2,000th overall kidney transplant in its history.

Both donor and recipient have made strong recoveries. For Stella, the surgery means a new lease on life. Freed from the daily constraints of dialysis, she is now thriving in Conroe with her parents, Clint and Ashley, and her 4-year-old sister, Savannah.

The story of the Thweatts and Dr. Van Wagner highlights the persistent need for living organ donors. According to the National Kidney Foundation, more than 100,000 people are on the national transplant waiting list, with a new name added every ten minutes. While deceased donation is the most common path, living donation—like that performed by Dr. Van Wagner—significantly reduces wait times and often results in better long-term outcomes for pediatric recipients.

For more information on the criteria for becoming a living donor or to register, interested parties can visit the National Kidney Foundation website at www.kidney.org or contact the transplant services department at Texas Children’s Hospital.