Elizabeth Black and Ken MacLeod don't know who received their donated kidneys, and they don't have to – the rewards have been profound and plentiful anyway.

"It was such a meaningful thing for me to do that it's hard to describe," said Elizabeth, who made her donation in 2013. "Even thinking about it now is emotional."

Most people don't hear much about living organ donation, but Elizabeth and Ken are hoping to change that. The Burnaby, B.C. residents are sharing their experiences in the hopes of encouraging others to follow suit.

The decision to become a living donor is intensely personal, and the husband and wife came to theirs separately at different times. But both were touched by the plight of people close to them who struggled and eventually died of kidney disease, including Ken’s father.

"Watching him go through that really very much affected me, to see how hard it was," Elizabeth said, remembering the constant dialysis treatments and long drives to the hospital.

She was ultimately moved to offer one of her kidneys to a stranger. With long waitlists for transplants, the process is usually fairly quick, but a health assessment determined Elizabeth had latent tuberculosis.

Determined not to give up, she agreed to spend over a year in treatment.

"By the time I found out… I was too emotionally connected to being a donor," she said. "I couldn't drop out."

She also set out to be the best donor she could, to give her recipient the best chance possible for a healthy life. That meant becoming a runner, a hobby that has since taken her to marathons and half marathons around the world.

"I never, ever would have gone to the different places like London and New York and Chicago. And we've all had wonderful times there, really. And I think it was the result of being a kidney donor,” she said.

"I didn't like [running] at first because it was hard work. And I tell you I would have quit if I wasn't motivated by wanting to help somebody else.”

Within about a month of making her donation in Edmonton three years ago, Elizabeth felt like herself again. The couple stayed involved in the transplant community, attending seminars and walks, which is how Ken came to make a selfless decision of his own.

The turning point for him was meeting people who had been given a second chance by an organ donation, as well as families desperately awaiting their turn.

"Through that personal contact you get to understand their stories," Ken said. "I started asking myself, Elizabeth has done this, and these people are in a situation where they need help, could I not do the same?"

He admits he's not as fit as his wife, but B.C. Transplant deemed him healthy enough to donate. Still, like Elizabeth, he opted to get into better shape, which he achieved by hitting the gym – something he credits for his own speedy recovery process after his operation in 2016.

Today, the couple is part of a new program through the Kidney Foundation that has brought together living donors to mentor people who are considering the procedure.

While some might see it as a sacrifice, for them, giving someone else a better life did wonderful things for their own.

"Before all my runs I think of my recipient," Elizabeth said," because without them I wouldn't be having any of these opportunities."

For more information, visit the B.C. Transplant and Kidney Foundation of Canada websites. 

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Maria Weisgarber