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When Jed Dudycha discovered that his older brother Jeremy needed a new kidney, he didn’t hesitate in volunteering to donate.

However, Jed knew that commitment meant a major life change was in order.

Jed was admittedly not in good health when he volunteered his kidney in late June of 2023, but a year later, you can barely recognize him or Jeremy as both men have undergone major health improvements throughout the process.

“I wasn’t in very good shape, but right away I said if I was able, I’d donate my kidney. I was over 300 pounds at the time and I got a couple of funny looks (from the doctors) when I volunteered,” Jed said. “But I saw the work that Jeremy was putting in and he had to meet some goals too.”

Jed, who is 45 years old, successfully donated his kidney to Jeremy, who is 48, in mid-July of this year, but it certainly didn’t come easy. Jed dropped his daily habit of chewing tobacco and replaced it with diet and exercise throughout the year to lose the necessary weight, and Jeremy went on a strict diet that didn’t allow sodium, sugar or salts. The brothers took daily 5.5 mile walks together and they supported each other all the way up to the day of the surgery, which was a stressful ordeal for their entire family.

“I’ll admit I was nervous, but we were going to the best place in the world to get it done. The only hard part was with the girls and my wife. They were taking it pretty hard,” Jeremy said. “It was hard on our parents too, because they had two sons going under.”

The surgery looks to be a success. Jed has five matching genetic factors with Jeremy and the kidney he donated is almost the size of two kidneys.

“The kidney’s working great,” Jeremy said. “The only way our match could be better is if we were twins.”

Jeremy’s ordeal began a year ago with a routine diabetes check. He was called back to check into the emergency room after the appointment as it was discovered that Jeremy’s kidneys were working at just seven percent of their capacity, which led to a 13-day hospital stay.

“I’m lucky I had that blood test, honestly,” Jeremy said. “The only thing I noticed was that I was getting out of breath a little quicker. I didn’t have any pain. I didn’t know anything was wrong.”

Jeremy underwent dialysis where he had to undergo five-hour treatments multiple times per week. He would sometimes begin his work shift at 1 a.m., take a break for dialysis from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. and then go back and finish his shift.

Jed was motivated by his brother’s journey and he said that he had no choice but to adjust his lifestyle to become a suitable donor.

“I had to work harder because Jeremy was serious about it. We started walking together and then I started doing better and I was able to start running a little. We both lost a bunch of weight. It was a good change for both of us, even though it was bittersweet with going through all of this. It was kind of an eye opener for me too, because I was borderline diabetic at the time,” Jed said. “It wasn’t good and I wasn’t healthy. I just feel so much better. It’s a better lifestyle and I’m going to continue it for sure. If this didn’t happen to Jeremy, I’d probably be way over 300 pounds. This was a blessing. It was a long journey with lots of bumps and we got through it. We had a lot of people praying for us.”

Jeremy lost over 70 pounds in the past year and while he is now cleared to eat what he wants, he is going to maintain a healthy diet —with the occasional treat mixed in.

The Dudycha brothers, who don’t have any other siblings, both graduated from Austin High School and they have always been there for each other.

“We’ve always been close. We’ve always hunted together and we do quite a bit of stuff together. Jed never misses anything with my girls (Hope and Emma) playing basketball,” Jeremy said. “It’s a pretty tough decision, just giving one of your kidneys away. Jed was there on day one.”

Hope, who is Austin’s all-time leading scorer in girls basketball and now plays at the University of Minnesota-Crookston, said that watching her father and uncle make such positive changes for the betterment of their lives and those around them was inspiring.

“I’m so proud of their hard work and dedication to get into shape for their surgeries,” she said. “It has all paid off and I am so happy for them. It’s so good to see them both living a healthier lifestyle. Jed is an awesome uncle for doing this for my dad and our family.”