Woman celebrates 50th anniversary of receiving kidney from her dad

    STILLWATER, Minnesota (WCCO) -- Each week for 42 years, Pat Koppa sent her father Cy a card in the mail.

"To say to him 'Dad, I'm so grateful you saved my life,'" said Koppa.

This week, she's celebrating a special milestone: the 50th anniversary of her father donating his kidney to her.

"He'd never had surgery in his entire life. They weren't quite sure how he was going to react to it. But he was just so happy to do it," Koppa said.

Koppa was sick for most of her childhood in central Wisconsin. Her health deteriorated until eventually, she got a kidney donation — a relatively new procedure in the 1970s — when she was 21.

She says she remembers the surgery like it was yesterday, especially when her dad came into her recovery room for the first time post-surgery.

"He was holding this little doll and this is what he said to me. He said, 'You know, fathers are the luckiest people in the world because they give birth to their daughters, I am the luckiest person in the world because I gave birth to you twice,'" Koppa said.

She says the transplant changed her and led to a new purpose.

"I had never known what it felt like to feel good. I decided to save other lives and went into public health," she said.

She's spent her life promoting healthy living and organ donation while still battling a myriad of complications.

"If she was a professional boxer, she could've decked Muhammad Ali," said husband Robert Zarracina.

Zarracina says his father-in-law pulled him aside after they got married to tell him how much it meant to him that he supported his daughter through every challenge.

"He says, 'Thanks for being with Pat.'" It was pretty neat," Zarracina said.

Koppa's father passed away from Alzheimer's disease seven years ago, but his decision to be a hero for his daughter lives on through the traits he passed on to her.

"It started with gratitude. I learned that resilience and I think that has extended my life. I owe a great debt to my father," Koppa said.

She will celebrate her transplant anniversary at a restaurant, something she rarely does because of her immune suppression issues.

She's working on a book to share her organ donation experience and encourage others to give the gift of life.