On October 6, 2023, enrolled Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community member Christopher Leslie underwent a successful kidney transplant. That November, his journey to learn more about his birth family and the Community’s traditions became news across the Valley.

Arizona’s Family (3TV/CBS 5) and the Mayo Clinic both ran video news stories on their channels and social media accounts at the time about Leslie’s recovery. The reports were partially shot at the Huhugam Ki: Museum.

For almost five years, Leslie had battled end-stage kidney disease that required dialysis. It wasn’t until Leslie was involved in an accident in 2019 that he even found out he had kidney disease. He had to quit working at his job at Casino Arizona, start regular dialysis and wait to receive a new kidney.

One day Leslie received a phone call around 5 a.m., while he was hooked up for one of his regular dialysis sessions at home.

“They said, ‘Hey, we have a kidney for you. It’s probably one of the best kidneys we’ve had come through. And you need to get here fast,’” Leslie recalled.

“So, I rushed to my family’s room and got them up,” he said. Leslie needed to wait about 30 minutes for the dialysate fluid to pass through his abdomen before he could go anywhere.

He said the doctors had told him that the donor kidney was going to go to another patient who had been waiting, but it turned out that patient had an issue that prevented him from getting the kidney. So Leslie suddenly was next on the list.

The doctors waited for the right moment for the transplant surgery as the donor kidney was preserved inside a special pump for almost 45 hours. The longer a donor kidney stays outside the patient, the more its function might be compromised.

“[The new kidney] took effect right away,” said Leslie. Doctors were amazed that the kidney took so well to his body after it had been waiting for that long to be transplanted.

As Leslie was waking up from surgery, a news team contacted him to ask if they could do a news story.

“Mind you, I was just coming off a bunch of pain drugs,” Leslie said. “I thought it was a dream, honestly.”

About a week went by, and the news team again met up with Leslie for a follow-up story. Once the news channel found out Leslie was an SRPMIC member, they wanted to meet with him again, only this time in the Community, at the Huhugam Ki: Museum.

Leslie has a special connection to the Huhugam Ki: Museum. It’s where he often goes to learn more about the Community, which he was separated from right after he was born.

When he was younger, he found out he was adopted while at a doctor’s appointment. The doctor said something, and Leslie caught on that it meant he was adopted. He didn’t really care too much or even process the revelation at the time.

“I’m adopted kind of within the same family, but far removed,” Leslie explained. “So, it’s like I’m not directly related, but within the same family, if that makes sense.”

This past July, Leslie just started back to work at his job at Casino Arizona, which he had been forced to leave five years ago because of his health situation. He said he has gotten to know other Community members and learned some things about the O’odham and Piipaash culture, such as the irrigation system created by the Community’s ancestors, traditional basket weaving and more.

Leslie currently resides in Wittman, Arizona, with his daughter Olivia. He said he’s trying to save money and eventually move to the Community.

“I do have sisters [and a biological mom] that are Community members,” said Leslie. “My biological mom, we don’t really talk at all. But my sisters and I talk. We talk a lot. I mostly just talk to my Community-member friends. They’re the ones that kind of let me know about things going on.”

After seeing the news stories about Leslie, the mother of his kidney donor reached out to him via Facebook.

“She told me that the kidney was supposed to be a direct donation to her brother-in-law, but when they were preparing his body for the transplant, [they discovered] he had cancer.” She also said that the kidney donor was about 16 years old and had died from a boxing accident.

He said he feels grateful for the new kidney and is looking forward to moving to the Community when he can.

Like other organ transplant recipients, Leslie will need to watch his health carefully and have regular checkups. During a recent checkup, his kidney specialist ordered blood tests, a bone scan and a biopsy of the kidney to see how well it was functioning.

“They said it’s perfect,” said Leslie.