CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) — There’s a disparity affecting South Carolina’s communities of color when it comes to who’s waiting for a life-saving organ donation, but one Lowcountry man and a South Carolina agency are working together to change that.

While you may not know his face, if you’ve ever tuned into a College of Charleston men’s basketball game, you’ve heard Everett German’s voice. That’s because he’s their official play-by-play announcer.

“So I announce all the games on the radio and our local TV games. In my 20th year of doing that. So this is a place that I’m familiar and comfortable with here at TD Arena,” German said.

He calls the love for his play-by-play work the why behind his why. But about 20 years ago, he faced a season of shakeups.

“I’m an account executive, so I’m constantly staring, you know, at a computer screen. And just one day I just started having blurry vision. I mean like my eyes, I’m like, ‘Oh, maybe again it’s time for me to get glasses.’ Wear and tear, so forth and so on,” German said.

So he went in for a visit with his optometrist. German said even though his tests didn’t appear abnormal, the doctor recommended he get his blood pressure checked.

“My blood pressure was 220 over 160. I literally was a walking stroke and the only symptoms I had was blurred vision,” German said.

He was immediately admitted to the hospital. His kidneys were failing with only 12% function left. For about five years, he was able to manage his condition with medication. But once his kidney function dropped to 5%, he needed a new organ. So he reached out to those who knew him best.

“It was something I blasted out to all my family, kind of letting them know what was going on and you know if anybody had interest in terms of being tested to be a donor,” he said.

After a year of being on dialysis, on June 8, 2011, German got the gift of life in the form of a transplant. His youngest sister, Charlene, became his kidney donor.

“She knows that if the roles were reversed, I would do the same. And you know, when you have that brother-sister connection, it’s just something that’s unbreakable and she didn’t hesitate. She did the testing and everything and everything she needed to do on her end and then when the time came, she was here and came through like my true hero,” German said.

This is the kind of success story that We Are Sharing Hope SC wants to see more of, especially in communities of color. The federally designated organization facilitates organ, eye and tissue donations throughout South Carolina.

“We currently have over 1900 people that are on the waitlist and over 56% of those are African-American. So, a lot of that is based on the lack of education around it and lack of trust,” Krystal Cau, director of communications for We Are Sharing Hope SC, said.

Cau says the organization actively works to dispel myths about organ, eye and tissue donations in order to offer clarity and establish trust with community members.

“One of the biggest things that we hear is if there is a heart on my license, you fall ill, you’re in an accident, the medical professional won’t help because an organization like Sharing Hope would want to retrieve organs. So there’s no truth to it,” she said.

German works alongside We Are Sharing Hope SC to share his story of kidney donation and to encourage others to register.

Cau explained the conversations surrounding organ donation can be scary, but they’re important.

“People don’t want to speak about death and what happens when we are no longer here. The fact of the matter is, is that it’s a decision that can change someone’s life. You can save up to eight people’s lives just by saying ‘yes’, and to enhance their tissue donations up to 75 people’s life. So the impact that that has alone is incredible,” she said.

It’s a kind of impact that’s giving German, a now 51-year-old husband and father of two, a second shot at life on and off the court.

“It’s just a new outlook on life. It just makes you more appreciative of the things I used to take for granted, you know,” he said.

If you’re interested in learning more about becoming an organ, eye or tissue donor, visit here.

Copyright 2026 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Full article here