At 15, Artavius Veasey received a kidney from his father during a living-donor transplant at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian)
Artavius Veasey was 3 years old when he was diagnosed with hereditary kidney disease, which often leads to kidney failure.
After several years on dialysis, he needed a transplant to save his life — and he got one, thanks to an organ donation.
And on Thursday, Aug. 21, he shared his story during Coffee & Conversations, a donor-awareness event organized by the Mid-South Transplant Foundation and held at Cxfeeblack’s new location at 3386 Bowen Ave. The event was designed to encourage people of color to consider organ donation.
“It’s a blessing that I’m still around and able to do what I do to spread awareness and to be an influence,” said Veasey, who’s now 35 and works as a digital communications coordinator for the Mid-South Transplant Foundation.
Cxffeeblack teamed up with the Mid-South Transplant Foundation for a Coffee & Conversation event to encourgae people to become organ donors. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian)
Sixty percent of the 100,000 individuals on the national transplant waiting list are from racial and ethnic minority groups.
And Black Americans are more than four times more likely to develop end-stage kidney disease than their white peers, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
“This event is a new twist on a town hall meeting,” said Mary Beck, Mid-South Transplant Foundation’s community relations coordinator. “It’s designed as an opportunity to provide a welcoming and comfortable place for people to enjoy some wonderful coffee and talk about organ and tissue donation.”
During the event, Black transplant recipients shared their stories.
At 15, Veasey received a kidney from his father during a living-donor transplant at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital.
After a recovery period, Veasey’s health improved, and he was able to return to Germantown High School.
He’s been an advocate for organ donation ever since, along with his mother, 52-year-old Tremetrius Barnes.
Artavius Veasey, left, and his mother, Tremetrius Barnes, together at the Coffee & Conversation event at Cxffeeblack on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. Veasey and Barnes both had life-saving kidney transplants. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian)
An ambassador for the Mid-South Transplant Foundation, Barnes also suffered from kidney disease and received an organ transplant, hers from a deceased donor in Oregon.
Barnes has remained healthy since her transplant surgery 26 years ago.
Her other son, Reginald Smith Jr., she said, chose to become an organ donor because of his family history.
“He said he wanted to do it because somebody helped me and somebody helped his brother, and if anything happened to him, he wanted somebody else to be helped,” Barnes said.
Smith was killed in a car wreck five years ago at age 24, and 67 people received his organs and tissues.
“Even though we, as a family, had to go through the whole process of grieving his passing, knowing that he saved so many people kind of lets his legacy live on,” Veasey said.
After the Coffee & Conversation event at Cxffeeblack on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, Sammy Ly said he was considering becoming an organ donor. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian)
Members of the public were invited to Coffee & Conversations to learn more about organ donation. Among those who attended was 25-year-old Sammy Ly of East Memphis.
Ly is among the 56% of eligible Tennesseans who have not registered as an organ donor.
“As a young person, you don’t like to think that your life could end tomorrow,” he said. “And it’s sort of confronting your mortality. These decisions can be really scary for families because they’re made at such a lightning-fast pace. I think having discussions ahead of time is important.”
But after attending Thursday’s event and hearing from Veasey, Ly said he’s leaning toward checking that box.
“He told me he was able to get a kidney from a donor and have a normal and healthy and beautiful life because someone was able to give him a kidney,” he said. “Giving other people more time with their family members — I think that’s the most beautiful gift you can give.”
By Aisling Mäki, Daily MemphianUpdated: August 21, 2025 7:12 PM CT | Published: August 21, 2025 7:09 PM CT