"Beth Allen: living donor. Such an extraordinary descriptor."

Beth Ann Baldry with the story of little known American touring pro Beth Allen's extraordinary donation to her older brother, Dan.

Allen, a relatively unknown American professional who plays in Europe, tries to downplay the gift as “a given.” Allen and her older brother, Dan, haven’t talked much about the kidney she’s scheduled to give him March 1.

“We never had an official conversation or anything,” Allen said. “I told my mom I was going to go and see.”
The process began last summer, and on Feb. 2 Allen received word while playing in the Australian Women’s Open that she’d been approved to donate. Doctors told Allen that nothing is certain until she’s wheeled in for surgery, but the exclamation points that peppered a recent e-mail said it all.

Beth, 29, treks the world playing a game that’s the very fabric of the entire Allen family. Yet the independence she enjoys is lost on Dan, 38, who has a rigid 7 p.m. daily curfew in San Diego. “I’m like Cinderella,” he says, laughing. That’s when he must begin the daily 10-hour dialysis treatment that sustains his life. Dan has been married to a machine for the past five years.