CONCORD TWP — Zane Slater’s decision to donate one of his kidneys to his mother was easy for him to make, but not quite as easy for her to accept.

“I was so adamant. I don’t want to take from my kids,” said Anna Castello. “He kept being persistent. It has to feel right to accept it. It felt right. It was God’s will.”

They discussed the transplant and encouraged everyone to sign up to be an organ donor Tuesday, April 22, at Slater’s Meat’s and More, where Slater works.

Twenty years ago, Castello received her first kidney transplant from a living donor — her sister Sarah Rowland — after her kidney began failing five years earlier.

She said everything was fine until she contracted a severe case of COVID-19 five years ago that diminished the function of that kidney. She said she was placed on a transplant list about a year and a half ago and was prepared to wait the three to five years it takes to get a kidney from a cadaver. Organs from living donors last longer than those from cadvaders. Castello said she would have had to undergo dialysis if she didn’t receive another new kidney.

Castello didn’t know it at the time, but Zane, 34, said he, his older brother, Zach Slater, 36, and their fiances had their blood tested to see if they would be suitable donors.

“They did it without my knowledge,” Castello said.

It was November last year when she finally agreed to accept a kidney from Zane.

“I’m supposed to take care of them. It was a reversal,” she said.

Slater said he had no hesitation about donating a kidney to his mother.

“Gotta take care of mom,” he said.

The transplant was performed Jan. 27 at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.

“I have a bunch of kidneys. They piled them on top of each other,” Castello said.

She said existing kidneys are removed before a transplant, only if there is a problem with them. Her old kidneys appear “shriveled up” in sonograms, she added.

Weekly blood tests she receives to check for rejection of the new kidney will gradually become less frequent.

Slater said his kidney was removed at 7:30 a.m., but he barely noticed.

“I woke up and didn’t think they operated on me. I thought they decided they couldn’t do it,” Slater said.

He said felt the area of his abdomen that was covered with a bandage to confirm he underwent surgery.

The removal resulted in less post-operative pain than he experienced when his gall bladder and appendix were removed in separate procedures. The only rule he said he has to follow is to stay hydrated.

“It’s too easy,” Slater said.

The Butler County Commissioners on Wednesday proclaimed recognizing April as “National Donate Life Month.”

Jackie Hutz, cofounder of the Team Fishguy Transplant Foundation, which supports transplant patients, donors and their families while raising awareness for organ donation, accepted the proclamation.

Over 100,000 people across the nation, including 7,000 in Pennsylvania, are awaiting an organ transplant. Every 10 minutes, someone new is added to the national transplant list and 17 will die every day while awaiting a transplant. One person can save the lives of as many as eight people through organ donation. One tissue donor can heal 75 lives, according to the proclamation.

Slater said he gets tested every six months to make sure his remaining kidney is working well, but those tests also will gradually become less frequent.

The hospital’s transplant team looks after the donor as much as the recipient, Castello said.

Because he donated a kidney, Slater said he would placed at the top of the transplant list if he needs one.

“Everyone should be a donor to save lives,” Castello said.