For the past two years, Ken Montgomery has felt great going through life missing an organ that someone else needed.
The Clark, Wyoming, man didn’t know who it was, but he donated his kidney anyway.
Even a grizzly bear couldn’t stand in the way of his gift of life.
The 59-year-old PR and communications and workforce engagement consultant is back at his ranch after spending three days in Washington, D.C., on Capitol Hill this week lobbying legislators for the nonprofit group Waitlist Zero.
The group is promoting legislation called the “End Kidney Deaths Now Act” to give people a financial incentive to give one of their kidneys away as well.
“It is for non-directed organ donors,” he said. “That’s somebody who donates a kidney to a stranger.”
Statistics provided by Montgomery and used by Waitlist Zero state that about 550,000 Americans are on kidney dialysis, costing $50 billion annually and representing 1% of the federal budget and 7% of the Medicare budget.
In Wyoming, there are 489 people on dialysis, the group reports.
The number of living kidney donations has been at about 6,000 for the past 25 years out of a population of 340 million Americans, Montgomery said.
Of those, roughly 350 were non-directed donations, in which the donors did not know the recipients.
Every hour an American on the kidney transplant list dies waiting for a kidney, Montgomery said.
The proposed legislation would create a 10-year pilot program offering non-directed kidney donor a $10,000-per-year refundable tax credit for five years and projects that the number of qualified non-directed donations would increase to 10,000 annually, ending kidney waitlist deaths.
The projected savings for each transplant to taxpayers is $500,000 compared to lifetime dialysis for kidney disease patients.
Montgomery’s journey to lobbying for the cause began seven years ago when a friend was in a Washington, D.C., hospital with a serious liver condition.
A social media post broadcast that a GoFundMe had been set up. Montgomery donated.
“Within 15 or 20 minutes I got an email back from him saying, 'I really appreciate you thinking about me,'” he said. “He ended up passing away.
"I literally said, ‘Ken, you have got to live your values. If I’m in the position to do that again, I am going to do it.'”
A Need
In 2022, Montgomery learned that a former colleague needed a kidney, and he was reminded of the promise he made to himself.
Montgomery made phone calls and contacts to donate a kidney for his friend.
He said the process to qualify, which took place at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, involved about 100 tests that included blood draws and MRI scans. There were also psychological screenings and spiritual counseling.
He learned that only about 2% of people who are willing to donate can.
After three days, he found out he was not a match for his friend, but the donation was set up so that he would give a kidney for another recipient and a second willing donor who did match his friend would donate for him.
“My colleague ended up getting a kidney from a decedent,” Montgomery said. “It was great news for him.”
At that point, Montgomery said he did some soul searching. He knew most people would just drop out of the process.
He also knew that there were still many people out there desperate for a kidney.
“I said, ‘You know what Ken, I really want to live my values. … I know that I’m healthy enough to do this,’” Montgomery said. “I’ve got two of them and your kidneys operate at like 200% efficiency.
"So, you can lose a kidney and it doesn’t do anything. Our bodies are amazing, right?”
Montgomery told officials he would go through with donating a kidney anyway.
The date was set for Oct. 23, 2022. He said he had no fear about the process and did not allow hypothetical thoughts about having just one kidney and getting a disease to dampen his decision.
Back on his ranch in Clark, the Friday before his scheduled organ donation on a Tuesday, Clark was out early in the morning with his dog, Lux, when he heard something “heavy” by the creek on his property in Clarks Fork Canyon.
A Grizzly
A grizzly bear emerged from the creek area, charging at him.
“Within three or four seconds the bear is 3 feet away from me,” he said. “I was thinking to myself, ‘Well, this is good run, you know, I’ve had a good life. I hope it doesn’t end here.'”
He said he thought about playing dead, and in the seven or eight seconds that the incident occurred found himself not only contemplating if the bear’s claws would go through his body, but also about going to the airport to pick up a friend who was supposed to watch his ranch as he traveled out of state to donate his kidney.
Thoughts about not checking in at the hospital in Arizona also flashed through his mind, pondering how things would work out.
Just then Lux charged the bear.
“That big old grizzly just dropped down, turned around and went on its way,” he said. “And when that happened, there was just another moment of clarity, like, ‘I can’t believe I am going to get out of this.’”
Montgomery said he shares the story because he has learned not to let the fear of some hypothetical future paralyze him from a life of purpose.
On the following Tuesday, Montgomery was at the hospital in Arizona and donated his kidney, not knowing who was going to get it.
Afterward, he signed a release to allow the recipient to contact him if they chose to.
A Meeting
In December 2024 right before Christmas, he heard from his recipient’s family, and then the recipient himself, Manny, inviting Montgomery for a visit to Tempe, Arizona.
“It was beautiful. It was a truly, truly profound experience,” Montgomery said.
An Instagram post on the visit from Manny’s family talks about the “joy and gratitude” in their hearts.
“This holiday we are counting Ken among our greatest blessings,” the family wrote. “We will cherish his gift forever and honor it by living each day to the fullest.
"From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for giving us the gift of more time, more laughter, and more memories together.”
Additionally, because he became a non-directed donor, Montgomery said he was given five certificates, “almost like a Willy Wonka golden ticket,” that he can give to someone waiting for a kidney transplant that puts them at the top of the list.
He learned that a nearby Powell resident was on dialysis and on the waiting list. He gave a certificate to him.
A Gift
Ray Branstetter, 50, said he was in kidney failure for close to three years and had told no one about it except for family.
“They told me I needed to find a donor and my daughters did an article for the local newspaper,” he said.
Branstetter said that shortly after he got a call from Montgomery that he was getting the voucher that put him at the top of the list.
“It’s like the kindest gesture you could ever get from a stranger,” he said. “That put me at the top of the list.”
Branstetter said he received a new kidney in July and is doing well.
“The world needs more people like Ken,” he said.
Montgomery, a transplant to the state from California, said he loves his adopted state and appreciates Wyoming’s two senators and congresswoman, who all showed up in person to listen to his lobbying on behalf of the proposed legislation.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
