The scars on Clyde Simms’s mid-section form a V-shape. One is faded, a reminder of a failed kidney transplant last winter. The other is fresh, marks left by a Dec. 9 operation made possible by an anonymous donor in Indiana, by his former girlfriend and by a national database that has facilitated more than 1,500 transplants in seven years.
“I have moments because my body is still adjusting,” Simms said of his recovery, “but each day gets better and better.”
Simms, 33, played seven years for D.C. United and two for the New England Revolution before retiring after the 2013 season because of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a form of kidney disease diagnosed when he was a freshman in high school.