{"id":86648,"date":"2025-11-05T14:00:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T21:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=86648"},"modified":"2025-11-05T14:00:24","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T21:00:24","slug":"searching-for-a-kidney-donor-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/searching-for-a-kidney-donor-colorado\/","title":{"rendered":"Searching for a new kidney: Around the world and right back to Colorado\u2019s breathtaking Wet Mountain Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Willie
Willie Quinney owns the Silver Cliff Mountain Inn, in Silver Cliff, Colorado, with his wife, Cheryl Jenkins. After Willie’s kidneys shut down in late 2023, community members in southern Colorado rallied to help him, including one local businesswoman who offered him a gift that changed his life. Photo by Chuck Bigger, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An emergency room doctor delivered the news back in 2023 that Willie Quinney and his wife, Cheryl Jenkins, had been dreading: Willie\u2019s kidneys were no longer working. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Willie had been\u00a0successfully handling\u00a0high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease for\u00a0more than two decades,\u00a0knowing\u00a0that his kidneys were likely to give\u00a0out\u00a0at some point.\u00a0But the doctor\u2019s\u00a0news on\u00a0that September\u00a0day two years ago\u00a0was still a shock. And besides,\u00a0Willie and\u00a0Cheryl had\u00a0been focused on\u00a0her recent\u00a0diagnosis of acute lymphocytic leukemia.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Willie would need emergency dialysis\u00a0and ultimately, a\u00a0kidney transplant.\u202f\u202fSilence hung in the air in the ER examination room after the doctor finished speaking.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Willie started to weep, and so did Cheryl.\u202f\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were devastated, just devastated,\u201d Cheryl said.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Christy\u00a0Morrell, Cheryl\u2019s daughter, was sitting in the ER waiting room when a nurse told her to go back to the exam room to see her mother and Willie. She knew it\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0be good news.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was standing there looking at Willie\u2019s face,\u201d\u00a0Christy\u00a0said. \u201cIt was an absolute shock. My mom started crying. Willie was crying. I said, \u2018We are going to find you a kidney.\u00a0I\u2019ll\u00a0start tonight.\u2019 And\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0what I did.\u201d\u202f\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0family members\u00a0could not have known in that fraught moment in a hospital ER that their journey to find Willie a kidney would lead them around the world and\u00a0ultimately\u00a0right\u00a0back\u00a0to the small southern Colorado\u00a0community\u00a0where they had lived for more than a decade.\u00a0It\u00a0would\u00a0be\u00a0there, in the breathtaking\u00a0<\/span>Wet Mountain Valley<\/span><\/a>, that Willie\u2019s kidney donor would eventually come forward and change his life.\u202f<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The
The towns of Silver Cliff and Westcliffe, foreground, sit side by side in the Wet Mountain Valley in southern Colorado, with the Sangre de Cristo mountain range providing a dramatic backdrop. The communities, with a combined population of 1,200, stepped up to help Willie and his family when he needed a new kidney. Photo by Chuck Bigger, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From Kansas to Colorado, a family builds a beloved local diner<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Living\u00a0in\u00a0<\/span>Silver Cliff<\/span><\/a>, population\u00a0700,\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0part of\u00a0Willie and\u00a0Cheryl\u2019s\u00a0life plan. They had just finished building Cheryl\u2019s dream home on a golf course in\u00a0Independence, Missouri.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But those plans changed in 2011, when they were in Silver Cliff visiting\u00a0Christy\u00a0and her husband, Greg, who had moved there in 2005. As the visit\u00a0drew to a close,\u00a0Christy\u00a0and her parents drove past a boarded-up restaurant and six-room motel in town with a \u201cFor Sale\u201d sign out front.\u202f\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Christy\u00a0joked that Willie and her mother should buy the place and move to Colorado. After they headed back to\u00a0Missouri,\u00a0Christy\u00a0got a phone call from her mother.\u00a0She\u00a0and Willie\u00a0had\u00a0made\u00a0an offer\u00a0on\u00a0the motel, and\u00a0the\u00a0seller\u00a0accepted.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom said,\u00a0\u2018What am I going to\u00a0do?\u00a0Now\u00a0I have a restaurant!\u2019\u201d\u00a0Christy\u00a0said.\u202f\u202f<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Cheryl
Willie, background, and his wife, Cheryl Jenkins, left, opened the Silver Cliff Mountain Inn in 2012. Cheryl’s daughter, Christy Morrell, right, had lived in nearby Westcliffe since 2005 and helped them open the restaurant. When Willie’s kidneys stopped working, Christy promised to find Willie a new kidney, not knowing that the search would lead her back to her own community. Photo by Chuck Bigger, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Willie and Cheryl initially planned to reopen the motel but\u00a0decided\u00a0instead\u00a0to remodel\u202fthe shuttered restaurant because, as Willie put it, there was nowhere\u00a0he liked\u00a0to eat breakfast in town.\u00a0The project\u00a0took\u00a0nearly a\u00a0year.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Willie and Cheryl sold their\u00a0Missouri\u00a0dream home, moved into the two-bedroom apartment behind the\u00a0motel\u00a0and opened the Silver Cliff Mountain Inn\u00a0on the day after Thanksgiving in 2012.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Silver
The Silver Cliff Mountain Inn is better known as Willie’s place. He never misses a day of work, whether he’s greeting customers, serving fresh coffee or washing dishes. Photo by Chuck Bigger, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If Cheryl was overwhelmed by the prospect of\u00a0opening a restaurant,\u00a0Christy\u00a0was\u00a0undaunted. She\u00a0had\u00a0operated\u00a0two eateries\u00a0in nearby Westcliffe from 2006\u00a0to\u00a02010 before closing\u00a0them\u00a0when\u202fshe and her husband adopted\u00a0their daughter. And Willie was a good cook.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These days, the restaurant is a fixture in the community, with Willie and Cheryl at the\u00a0center\u00a0of the action.\u00a0Beneath the\u00a0Silver Cliff Mountain Inn sign\u00a0outside the\u00a0restaurant, a\u00a0smaller sign\u00a0reads\u00a0\u201cAKA Willie\u2019s.\u201d\u00a0Inside, an inscription on the coffee mugs\u00a0tells\u00a0another\u00a0story: \u201cMostly Cheryl\u2019s Place.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The
The sign out front says “aka Willie’s,” but Willie gives credit to his wife, Cheryl. A sign inside the Silver Cliff Mountain Inn says “Mostly Cheryl’s place.” Photo by Chuck Bigger, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you stop in for a bite to eat,\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0likely to find Cheryl behind the register and Willie\u00a0working\u00a0the dining room with a pot of fresh coffee and a dish towel hanging from his\u00a0back pocket.\u00a0The aroma of syrup,\u00a0coffee\u00a0and bacon\u00a0greets customers at the front\u00a0screen door. The call of \u201corder up\u201d from the kitchen rings out every few minutes until the morning rush slows. Servers know the locals by name as they deliver heaping plates of biscuits and\u00a0gravy, corned beef hash and breakfast burritos smothered in green\u00a0chile. Out-of-town visitors get the same friendly service, and on a recent morning, long-time friends of Willie and Cheryl\u2019s\u00a0surprised them with a visit. \u202fIf\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0a Kansas City Chiefs\u00a0fan,\u00a0you\u2019ll\u00a0be fast friends with Willie and Cheryl, who keep a shrine to their football team near the register.\u202f<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Willie
Willie greets as many customers as he can each morning at the Silver Cliff Mountain Inn. Willie and Cheryl moved from the Kansas City area to Silver Cliff, and they remain huge fans of the Kansas City Chiefs football team. Willie and Cheryl’s restaurant is a favorite spot for locals and visitors to the Wet Mountain Valley in southern Colorado. Photo by Chuck Bigger, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stunning beauty\u00a0and a\u00a0rich history define the Wet Mountain Valley<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

There are no bad views through the windows\u00a0of the Silver Cliff Mountain Inn. The Wet Mountain Valley is ringed by mountains\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the 14,000-foot-plus peaks of the Sangre de Cristo range to the west and the sloping Wet Mountains to the east. Silver Cliff and neighboring Westcliffe, population\u00a0500, sit along Colorado Highway 96 before it turns into\u00a0Main Street\u00a0in Westcliffe and dead ends there, about 80\u202fmiles southwest of Colorado Springs, accessible only by meandering, two-lane roads.\u202f<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Westcliffe,
Westcliffe, Colorado, and nearby Silver Cliff, are the biggest communities in Custer County in southern Colorado. The Sangre de Cristo mountain range frames the western side of the Wet Mountain Valley, while the sloping Wet Mountains are located to the east. Photo by Chuck Bigger, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Ute, Apache and\u00a0Arapaho\u00a0tribes\u00a0called the valley home before\u00a0farmers,\u00a0ranchers and silver prospectors\u00a0arrived in the late 1800s.\u00a0Silver Cliff was Colorado\u2019s third-largest city\u00a0then,\u00a0as\u00a0miners flocked to the valley. But when the mining boom\u00a0went bust, the population began to shrink.\u00a0Business\u00a0owners and those with\u00a0homes put\u00a0their buildings on rollers and moved them to nearby Westcliffe.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, descendants of some of those settlers\u00a0remain, joined by retirees, outdoor enthusiasts,\u00a0artists\u00a0and others.\u202fIn Westcliffe, art galleries, coffee shops, boutique\u00a0motels\u00a0and an outdoor gear shop line Main Street. The runs of the long-shuttered Conquistador Ski Area are still visible from town, carved into the mountainside.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Silver Cliff and Westcliffe,\u00a0nicknamed \u201cThe Cliffs,\u201d have been\u00a0designated\u00a0as\u00a0an International Dark Sky Community.\u00a0In Westcliffe,\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span>Smoky Jack Observatory<\/span><\/a>\u00a0offers\u00a0a schedule of sky-watching events from spring through fall. From a nearby bench, visitors can hear cattle lowing in the distance.\u202f\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The day everything changed for the namesake of Willie\u2019s Place<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

By the time summer was in full\u00a0swing back\u00a0in 2023,\u202fWillie was feeling a little off. He was exhausted and forgetful, and he noticed that his hands and legs were swollen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Willie
Willie works throughout the restaurant, from the kitchen to the dining room and even the dish pit. After his kidneys failed, Willie traveled two hours to Colorado Springs three times a week for dialysis, forcing him to miss some shifts at the restaurant. Photo by Chuck Bigger, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Doctors\u00a0diagnosed\u00a0Willie\u00a0with high blood pressure and early-stage kidney disease in 1998. They told him that\u00a0he\u2019d\u00a0eventually need\u00a0dialysis\u00a0\u2014\u00a0regular\u00a0medical treatments\u00a0that mimic\u00a0the\u00a0kidneys\u00a0and\u00a0remove\u00a0toxins from the body\u00a0\u2014 along with\u00a0a new kidney\u00a0someday. Willie\u00a0wanted to delay that inevitability as long as possible.\u00a0He went on medication to lower his blood pressure and completely changed his diet and lifestyle, enjoying more than 25 years of an active and healthy life.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But\u00a0kidney disease eventually caught up with him. In the summer of 2023, Willie\u00a0saw\u00a0his\u00a0doctor, who told him\u00a0his kidneys were not working well and to\u00a0prepare for dialysis within the next six to 12 months.\u202f\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018I don\u2019t want to do it,\u2019\u201d Willie said. \u201cShe said, \u2018You\u2019ll die.\u2019\u00a0So\u00a0I said, \u2018Maybe I\u2019ll do it.\u2019\u201d\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The doctor\u2019s prediction was correct, but her timeline\u00a0was a little off.\u00a0Just one month later, Willie\u2019s health was deteriorating. One morning, he\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0stand up from the chair where he was sitting. Cheryl and\u00a0Christy\u00a0begged him to go to the ER, but he refused and said he needed to get\u00a0over to the restaurant.\u00a0Christy\u00a0did the only thing she knew would persuade Willie to see a\u00a0doctor.\u00a0She\u00a0called her husband, hoping Willie would listen to him.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Greg\u00a0drove over to Willie and Cheryl\u2019s apartment, took one look at\u00a0Willie\u00a0and drove him to\u00a0a\u00a0hospital in Colorado Springs.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Doctors ran a battery of tests. Then, the ER doctor delivered the news: Willie would be admitted to the\u00a0hospital and begin dialysis\u00a0immediately. Had he delayed even a few hours in going to the ER, he could have died.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dialysis would keep\u00a0Willie\u00a0alive, but without a kidney transplant,\u00a0he\u00a0would\u00a0face a lifetime of treatments.\u202f\u202f<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Willie,
Willie, Cheryl and Christy pose at their Silver Cliff restaurant. Even in the heart of Denver Broncos country in Colorado, Willie and Cheryl are unabashed Kansas City Chiefs fans. Photo by Chuck Bigger, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hope begins with a promise<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

As\u00a0Christy\u00a0listened to the ER doctor talk with her parents, she did the only thing she knew would help.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI had to give them some hope,\u201d she said. \u201cI had no idea what would be involved. In that moment, all I could see was my mom was melting down, and so was Willie.\u201d\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When she got home\u00a0to\u00a0Westcliffe,\u00a0Christy\u00a0called a\u00a0family\u00a0friend, Katie Johnson,\u00a0and told her she needed to figure out how to raise money for a kidney transplant for Willie.\u00a0Johnson\u00a0and her husband, Ted,\u00a0joined the effort.\u00a0Christy\u00a0then called another friend, and another, asking for help.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Christy\u00a0started the\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe\u2019re\u00a0Team Willie\u201d\u00a0Facebook page<\/span><\/a>\u00a0on Oct. 27, 2023.\u00a0She\u00a0knew they would need to find a living donor for\u00a0Willie, and\u00a0expected they might need to raise some money to help with travel expenses for dialysis.\u202fJohnson\u2019s husband, Ted, then created the web page and QR code that housed information about Willie and their quest for a kidney.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Willie
Willie, standing, greets as many customers as possible at the Silver Cliff Mountain Inn, where the menu offers all of the breakfast and lunch staples. Photo by Chuck Bigger, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOur hope is that there is someone out there in this big \u2018ol\u00a0world who is a match and will generously consider donation of a healthy\u00a0kidney so that\u00a0Willie can continue to change the world, one person, one smile, one good deed at a time as he has always done. Someone who will know that Willie has spent his life giving and still has so much left to give. He just needs a little help in getting his body to cooperate with the plans his heart has.\u201d\u202f<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn how you can help save a life<\/span><\/a>\u00a0by donating a kidney or part of your liver\u00a0through UCHealth\u2019s Living Donor program.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kidney donors must be:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n