Last year, Mount Laurel Animal Hospital’s Director of Primary Care Services Shawn Murphy made a courageous decision to help one of his co-workers, Elizabeth Todd.
“It was hard to keep it a secret and come to work,” Murphy said. “I feel like everything happens for a reason. She’s a veterinarian technician; I’m a veterinarian technician… We’re always helping animals and now we have the chance to help each other as people too.”
“It’s just crazy how things work out… I was very emotional,” Todd said.
Murphy learned about kidney donation 15 years ago through a former co-worker of his who served as a living donor. He was inspired by how selfless she was, and he always told himself that if he had the chance to do that one day, he would. After discovering how lengthy and involved the application was back then, he put donation on the back burner.
After leaving a long-term position at another veterinary clinic, Todd was interviewed by Murphy a year ago to join the hospital’s primary care team, and that’s when he found out about her story. During her interview, she briefly mentioned that she might need time off in the future, if she received a kidney transplant. Todd had been living with chronic kidney disease and was actively waiting on the kidney transplant list.
“I didn’t think about it until she had left these little cards on the desk with a QR code about her bio… So I thought, ‘Hm, maybe now’s the time,’” Murphy said. “So I scanned it (the QR code), I didn’t tell her. I went through the whole process, and then it wasn’t until I was approved to do it did I tell her.”
Todd had spent three years looking for a donor before she received the big news. Her family and friends were all tested to see if any of them were a match, to no avail. It was one of those things where Todd knew, deep down, that she would match with a potential donor. Life led her to the hospital where she met Murphy, and it all worked out.
Murphy’s testing became significantly intense, lasting nearly eight months. Unfortunately, Murphy and Todd weren’t a match, with Murphy’s kidney slightly too large for Todd. Rather than ending the journey, Murphy chose to participate in a paired kidney exchange program that led to their surgeries in May of this year. Through this process, his kidney would be donated to a compatible recipient, while Todd would receive a kidney from another donor who was a better match for her. Murphy has yet to meet his recipient and Todd has yet to meet her donor, so they’re hoping that by sharing their story, they can make that extraordinary connection.
“In veterinary medicine, helping others is at the core of everything we do,” Murphy said. “This was one veterinary technician helping another. It felt like a natural extension of the compassion that brought us into this profession in the first place.”
Shawn Murphy, Mount Laurel Animal Hospital’s director of primary care services, and veterinarian technician Elizabeth Todd share more than a connection as co-workers.
Todd was interviewed by Murphy a year ago to join the hospital’s primary care team and that’s when everything changed for the both of them. The pair participated in paired kidney exchange program that led to Todd receiving a new kidney on May 21, 2026.
