Knoch grad’s tragic death results in renewed life for Wisconsin man
JEFFERSON TWP — With nursing as her chosen profession, Sarah Kasunic dedicated her life to giving to people.
Even after her death.
Allen Schneider, 58, of Greenfield, Wisc., will attest to that.
“Sarah was a strong person, very independent,” her father, Tom Kasunic said. “She was an extremely caring person. It was her idea to sign up for organ donation.”
Sarah, a Knoch High School and Butler County Community College graduate, lost her life at age 23 three years ago in Tennessee when she was struck by a motor vehicle. Being an organ donor, she wound up affecting numerous other lives in a positive way.
“We were told 30 of her organs were sent out,” Kasunic said. “A 10-year-old in Michigan received her heart. Another 10-year-old in Tennessee received her liver. We don’t know much else ... You’re not given any names or anything.”
But the Kasunic family wanted Sarah’s organ recipients to know what she was like. So Tom penned a letter describing his daughter and sent it to Tennessee Donor Services, which, in turn, forwarded the letter to the 30 people involved. Kasunic was not permitted to include any names or locations in the letter.
One person responded — Schneider, who received one of Sarah’s kidneys. He answered the letter Nov. 2, 2019 — not long after getting the kidney — but the Kasunic family was not made aware of his response until October 2021.
“I had pretty much given up, figuring we weren’t going to hear back from anybody,” Kasunic admitted. “I was out mowing the grass one day, and my wife called me in. Michele, a new manager at Tennessee Donor Services, was on the phone and told me she found this letter dated November 2019.
“It made my day.”
Schneider’s letter was sent to the Kasunic family. Schneider and his wife, Linda, also have a daughter who’s a nurse. He wrote in his letter that “I hope you can find a little comfort knowing that this generous act will provide me a second chance at a full life. I have been thinking a lot about this gift. I give thanks each day for this gift of life.”
Schneider suffered from a hereditary kidney disease. He received a kidney transplant from his sister-in-law in 1998.
“It only lasted for so long,” Schneider said of the kidney. “I wound up on home dialysis for five-and-a-half years. I’d go to bed at 7 at night and wake up at 7 in the morning, the dialysis on me while I slept. That was every day.”
Eventually developing kidney cancer from his original kidneys, undergoing blood transfusions and surgeries, “it became very difficult to find a matching kidney for me. I was on lists, but my chances were maybe 5 percent or so,” he added.
Then Sarah’s kidney came along.
A land surveyor by trade, Schneider received a phone call one day alerting him to a possible match. He went home, received a dialysis treatment, then got the phone call he couldn’t believe.
“It was a go. I had a couple of hours to get to the hospital,” he said. “And my life, my family’s life, was changed.”
Two years later, working through their respective donor services in Tennessee and Wisconsin, the Kasunic and Schneider families decided to establish contact with each other. They spoke on the phone last October. They’ve had a few conversations that way since.
The Schneiders learned of the Twilight 5K that took place in Meridian Friday night — raising funds for a Butler Catholic scholarship in the names of Sarah Kasunic and Emily Leyland — and decided to make the trip to Butler to participate. The two families walked the course together.
“Only way I’m running is if someone’s chasing me,” Schneider joked.
“We are so honored they decided to drive all this way for us,” Kasunic said.
“Just grateful to get to meet them, and for what they mean to us,” Kasunic’s wife Margaret said.
The Schneiders have three children and two grandchildren. Married for 35 years, Allen and Linda Schneider dealt with his kidney disease for 25 years.
But no more.
“When you have chronic health issues, you become a burden to people around you,” Schneider said. “I’ve been so limited with what I could do in life. This is the first trip we’ve taken in more than 10 years.
“It’s only fitting that it’s here.”
The families met face-to-face for the first time late Friday morning when the Schneiders arrived at the Kasunics’ home in Jefferson Township.
“A pretty emotional time there,” Kasunic said. “A lot of hugs and a lot of crying, but so much joy.”
Much of that joy came from Julie Kasunic, Sarah’s youngest sister.
“I’m forever grieving,” Julie said through tears. “That will never stop. But by meeting you (Schneiders), I feel another connection to my sister. It’s so strong and real ... I thank you for that.”
A few months ago, Schneider sent the Kasunic family a self-made wood carving in the shape of a cross. Wood carving is his hobby, and “I wanted to give them something else to think of us and Sarah by. It took maybe 12 hours to make it.”
Its symbol — sitting on a mantle in the Kasunic household — will last a lifetime.
Tom and Margaret Kasunic are both registered organ donors, Sarah’s mother saying that “I signed up for it shortly after she did. She showed us it’s another way to value life.”
“I'll be grieving about Sarah until I draw my last breath,” Tom Kasunic said. “But meeting this family has been extraordinary. I’m so happy Sarah’s selflessness brought us together and she could help him. He’s a great guy. I know we’ll stay in touch.”
Schneider brushed away tears as he spoke.
“Giving blood, organ donation, these seem like simple things to do, but they are so, so important. I know. I am lucky and truly blessed.”
He said it best in his letter to the Kasunic family.
“Sarah ... was a tremendously giving person,” he wrote. “She obviously felt it was her mission to put others before herself. What a great quality.”
