TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WIAT) – Three University of Alabama law students are giving the gift of life this holiday season. They each donated one of their kidneys.

Katrina Smith is a UA law student; she along with her classmates decided to donate simply to help save the lives of three people who needed kidney transplants.

“I don’t think I did anything difficult or hard, I think my recipient did all the hard work because what she did was twenty times worse than what we had to go through, and I would do this a million times over again if I had too,” Katrina said.

Ryne Smith said after his surgery he and the other law students got to meet the three people who received kidneys. Ryne says they made the decision to become donors after researching the UAB Kidney Centers Donor program.

“There is a big need for this kind of thing and I learned about the amount of people who need kidneys and the impact I could have on someone’s life,” said Ryne. “And at that point based on the amount of effort I would have to go through in order to change that person’s life, it was a no brainer. I made that decision right then and there.”

According to The University of Alabama at Birmingham Kidney Center, more than 2,200 Alabamians need a kidney transplant. Each year nationwide, fewer than 200 kidney transplants come from donors who are not related to the recipients.