For this edition of our Ambassador Spotlight, we are proud to profile TAP veteran Charles!

After experiencing kidney failure as a result of complications from heart surgery, Charles received a transplant from a wonderful person who registered their wishes to donate their organs after death. Prior to his transplant, he received in-centre hemodialysis for 15 months followed by 15 months of home hemodialysis.

Charles brings incredible positivity to his role as a TAP Ambassador, including his well-known mantra, “Keep Bangin’,” no matter how challenging the future may look.

“My favourite thing about being a TAP Ambassador is knowing that by sharing my kidney and transplant experiences, I can help another patient as they go along on a kidney journey of their own,” says Charles. “The many conversations that I have with fellow patients when I visit the kidney clinic at Grand River Hospital and over the phone, give purpose and meaning to all of the good and the bad that I've dealt with along the way. I hope by sharing my experience, I can make their journey a little easier to navigate and encourage patients and families to look seriously into their eligibility to have a kidney transplant as the gold standard of kidney care.”

Charles’ commitment to support fellow patients does not stop with his service through TAP, he is also a member of the Board of The Kidney Foundation of Ontario and has been a long time volunteer for the local chapter.

He shares his perspective that, “Both TAP and KFOC Ontario provide valuable peer support for patients and their families. The key difference for me is that as a TAP Ambassador, I have the opportunity to meet with patients and their families in person in clinic, while KFOC Ontario's peer support program provides valuable group and phone support no matter where people are in their kidney journey.”

Charles’ advocacy for organ donation and commitment to others is a true inspiration. Thank you, Charles!