Over the past four years, 8-year-old Rosie Thrasher-Miller has lived a normal childhood by attending school, playing with other children and, most importantly, thriving.

Thrasher-Miller, of Randolph, N.Y., got her second chance at life at the age of 3 when she received a kidney transplant from an adult donor residing in the Southern Tier. Her success story was publicized in the Olean Times Herald in April of 2013.

Now, Thrasher-Miller’s father, Levi Miller, has given back to another person in need by becoming a kidney donor himself. News of Levi Miller’s recent act of donating a kidney was announced by Jeanette Ostrum, a founder of the Kidney Connection in Jamestown, N.Y. Over the years, Ostrum and her organization have helped many people throughout the region receive life-saving kidney transplants.

Rosie Thrasher-Miller’s mother, Virginia Miller, said her husband decided to help a woman with kidney failure after learning of her need online at the Kidney Connection website. A request was posted by the woman’s daughter.   

“Her daughter said she just wanted to have her mom back … (Levi Miller) realized he had the same blood type and we started testing,” to determine if he could be a donor, Virginia Miller stated. “We then called Jeanette (Ostrum) and it all just worked out.”

She said her husband didn’t have any second thoughts about the transplant and decided to “pay it forward” to the foundation because of their daughter.

“He knows how important it is and that it needs to be done,” Virginia Miller said of her husband’s gratitude for his young daughter’s life.

Virginia Miller said her husband believes he will be laid up for approximately 12 weeks following the surgery.

“We figured it out that we can have income to make it through,” she added. “His company is willing to hold his job because he’s not someone who takes off time and they know what it’s for — thankfully that part is covered.”

Ostrum said the transplant was “amazing and the kidney started working right away.” In addition, the recipient and Levi Miller are both doing well.  

Ostrum said the Kidney Connection, in gratitude for Levi Miller’s act of selflessness, has set up a GoFundMe page slugged Rosie’s Pay It Forward Kidney to help the family financially until he can return to work.

As for Thrasher-Miller, life has been good to her since her transplant.

“She’s not quite as a big as her twin, Jasmine, but she’s growing,” Virginia Miller said of her daughter, who attends second grade in Randolph with her sister. The family also has one other child at home and two older children.   

Prior to her transplant, Thrasher-Miller had been in failing health while waiting for a kidney for more than a year. Thrasher Miller and her twin sister, Jasmine, were born prematurely and were both diagnosed with health issues at birth. Thrasher-Miller had kidney failure since infancy, and her sister has had two heart surgeries. Prior to her transplant, Thrasher-Miller had regular blood tests, frequent doctors’ and hospital visits and had to use a feeding tube. A woman who learned of Thrasher-Miller’s need for a kidney offered to become a donor after reading an article in the Olean Times Herald.

For more information on the Kidney Connection, or becoming a donor, contact Ostrum at  

(716) 450-8958.