Reda ’73
Kidney Donation Gives New
Meaning to Alumni Friendship
When Mark Reda ’73 and Stephen Garrison ’71
played on the men’s golf team at Saint Leo
University, they were only acquaintances.
Garrison was a senior, and Reda a sophomore.
While they shared mutual friends and played golf together
on occasion, their social circles did not often overlap.
It wasn’t until several years later, when they were thousands
of miles away from Florida, that the two were able
to form a friendship that ended up saving Reda’s life.
Garrison, who grew up in New York, moved to the same
city in New Jersey as Reda. “I’m coming out of church one
day, and I see this guy who looked really familiar, but I
couldn’t figure out how I knew him,” Reda said.
While there wasn’t an opportunity for Reda to connect
with Garrison then, he got a second chance when they ran
into each other at a park. After acknowledging their Saint
Leo connection, the pair became friends, meeting for dinner
and playing a round of golf from time to time.
It was a serendipitous meeting because little did Reda
know, but Garrison would be key to saving his life. In 2016,
Reda was facing health problems, and doctors told him he
needed a new kidney to live.
Reda had family members and friends offer to help,
including two former Saint Leo roommates. However, for
one reason or another, none were an acceptable match.
Reda didn’t share much about his health problems
with his friend. While Garrison knew he wasn’t doing well
and needed to have surgery, he didn’t know how dire the
By Marie Cirelli Thornsberry
need was until after talking to Reda’s wife, Debbie. At that
point, he learned that he might just be a perfect donor
match and decided to help.
“To me, it was a pretty simple decision,” Garrison said.
“I know that it’s not uncommon for people to donate kidneys.
I knew I’d be sore for a little bit, but that I would go
on to live a normal life. I would feel terrible if something
happened to Mark and I didn’t help him.”
After meeting with doctors and learning more about
the transplant process, Garrison was confident in his decision
to move forward. Reda received his kidney, and today
both men are doing well and are still close friends.
To pay tribute to Garrison, three years ago the Redas
created the Stephen Garrison ’71 Scholarship fund at Saint
Leo to support golf student-athletes who exemplify selfless
generosity.
“It’s just a very humbling experience when the people
in your life volunteer to help,” Reda said. “It’s the kind of
thing that chokes you up when you talk about it. Establishing
the scholarship is a way for me to memorialize
what he did. His grandkids can see the scholarship and be
able to know what their grandfather did.” •
If you are interested in learning about Saint Leo
University’s scholarship program and how you can
help, please contact Dawn Parisi at dawn.parisi@
saintleo.edu or (352) 588-8251.
Mark
Stephen Garrison ’71
Saint Leo University SPIRIT.SAINTLEO.EDU 9
/saintleo.edu
/SPIRIT.SAINTLEO.EDU