Living life to the fullest

By Lethbridge Herald on September 5, 2025.

Al Beeber
Lethbridge Herald

Jan Clemis knows from personal experience that an organ transplant will not only save a life but also allow a recipient to lead a full, active life.

Taber resident Clemis suffers from a hereditary genetic disorder called polycystic kidney disease which results in the development of clusters of cysts in the kidneys. The cysts fill with fluid and can slowly replace the kidneys, leading to failure of the organs. About half of people with PKD will suffer kidney failure by the age of 60 – that number rises to 60 per cent by the time a sufferer reaches the age of 70. Survival eventually is dependent upon dialysis or a transplant.

Clemis, who recently swam eight races in the WorldTransplant Games in Dresden, Germany, was on dialysis for 18 months, driving to Lethbridge from Taber three times a week until she received a new organ donated by her son. Her two daughters suffer from the same disease so the family has a vested interest in finding a cure for their disease.

Their support for organ transplants has another dimension, as well: Clemis’ former husband Kelly had a double lung transplant in 2014 and lived three more years, which gave the family time to celebrate many occasions, including the weddings of their daughters and the birth of a grandchild.

Clemis received her kidney on August 29 of 2018, just months after the crash of the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team which claimed the life of 16 people, including Lethbridge’s Logan Boulet. She calls that date her “life day.”

“Our whole family has been impacted by transplant,” she said.

The World Transplant Games, which are held biannually, give transplant recipients an opportunity to not only promote awareness of the need to donate organs but also to celebrate life and show appreciation for their donors, either living or deceased.

Canada was one of 51 countries represented at the Games which attracted 2,200 athletes. Clemis was one of three southern Albertans who competed.

In Germany, she noted that the first question competitors asked each other upon meeting was not about their nationality, but rather which organ they had received.

“It’s hard to describe the feeling of having that much gratitude all smashed into one week from every single participant, whether you’re an  angel donor family, a living donor or a recipient” Clemis said in a  phone interview on Thursday.

“It was a pretty powerful week. Everybody shuts off the news and we just focus on life. Every day you hear of a new story of somebody’s  medical struggle and how they overcame that through transplant and it’s pretty moving.”

Clemis says life is good after the transplant but the fact her daughters could face a transplant in their lives is one reason her family is so actively involved with the organ donation movement –  “moving that dial forward with research for not only polycystic kidney disease which is our hereditary disease but all kidney diseases and  patient services and anything to be connected with kidney issues  whatsoever.”

This weekend, Clemis will be in Calgary for the Kidney March event staged by the southern Alberta branch of the Kidney Foundation of Canada.

The Games are “a week of gratitude, support, joy and camaraderie. We do have fierce competition, don’t get me wrong. Lots of us train for months in advance to prepare for it but at the end of the day, everyone is there to celebrate the gift of life, the challenges and successful transplants,” said Clemis.

And while competitors come from different parts of the world, they have that commonality of transplant “and we can demonstrate the  abilities that we’ve regained through that transplant experience,” said Clemis, adding the Games were staged in Germany because it’s donation rates are among the lowest in the world.

“By hosting the Games in Dresden, Germany, of course the goal was to also raise awareness of what transplant can bring together and how we have rich, fulfilling life post-transplant. We can regain health and  wellness that we’ve lost. It’s not a cure – we take our medications  every day for the remainder of our lives, we honour the gifts that our  donors have provided for us.”