Diane Scott Brockington was an avid fan of the Green Bay Packers and had watched their star player, John Brockington, on the field. A college professor, Diane moved in 1986 to San Diego, where she met John at a local deli. When John suffered kidney failure in 2000, Diane and her daughters offered to become his donor. Diane and John were a match, and she donated her kidney to him on November 28, 2001. After a decade of friendship, the two married. Together they direct the John Brockington Foundation to increase organ donation and raise funds for people for pre- and post-transplant patients. Diane is also the co-founder of Donate Life San Diego; on the board of directors of Donate Life America; and on the advisory boards of both Explore Transplant and Lifesharing.

Diane's Story

As a student at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Diane Scott Brockington became an avid fan of the Green Bay Packers and had watched their star running back, John Brockington, on the field. Later, as a graduate student, Diane made sure that her Milwaukee-raised twins, Jessica and Justine, attended their share of games. Now a college professor, Diane and her family moved in 1986 to San Diego, where she met John at a local deli where she went to grade papers. The two became fast friends.

An All-American running back at The Ohio State University under coach Woody Hayes, John was part of the team that won the National Championship in the 1968 Rose Bowl, returning again in 1970. He then became the Packers' first pick in the 1971 NFL draft, breaking records and garnering many honors for his team and himself. He was accepted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1984.

When John suffered kidney failure in 2000, Diane and her daughters offered to become his donor. "In an amazing example of matching that defied ethnicity and size, I was able to offer my smaller kidney to a 6'1" man," said Diane, who is 5'2". She donated her kidney to John on November 28, 2001. "Thirteen years later, that kidney is still performing like a champ."

After returning to health and a decade of friendship, John and Diane married. Together, they direct the John Brockington Foundation which supports pre- and post- transplant patients in Southern California with food and transportation vouchers; provides kidney donation education and transplant screenings; and hosts the largest organ donor drive in San Diego.

Along with help from John's former Buckeye and Packer teammates, as well as local San Diego celebrities, the Foundation raises funds by leveraging fans' love of sports and their sport heroes. In 2008, the John Brockington Foundation received the James Wolf Courage Award from Donate Life America for being the organization with the most outstanding effort and record outside the transplant professional community in promoting organ donor registration.

In addition to her work with the Foundation, Diane is the co-founder of Donate Life San Diego, and, with John, on the board of directors of Donate Life America, and on the advisory boards of both Explore Transplant and Lifesharing.

Happy, proud and grateful to be a living donor, Diane regards the "hero" label as inappropriate. "If the Donate Life float does nothing else," she commented, "it should illustrate that ordinary friends and strangers can do extraordinary good through the simple and achievable fact of living donation."