She never imagined an unexpected knock on the door in 1974 would start a friendship that would one day save her life.
Forty-eight years later, the two women remain close friends. They know the importance of sharing a gift and hope others will consider doing the same, be it for someone they care about or someone they’ve never met.
“Never did I think this girl would save my life,” Pat (Pumper) Christensen said. “She means everything to me. I was running out of options. I was running out of people.”
This girl – Julie Bergstrom – was a friend from high school. Bergstrom had been born in New Prague, moved to St. Louis Park and then on to Montana. Members of her family moved back to Shakopee while she was in high school. One day in the fall of 1974, while Christensen and her friends were in downtown Shakopee hanging out at a teen center, they decided to go visit the new girl at her house near the intersection of Third Avenue and Apgar Street on the west end of downtown Shakopee. Without an invitation, the girls asked Bergstrom if she’d like to spend time together.
“They just came to my house,” Bergstrom said. “Who does that?”
The impromptu act started a friendship lasting for decades. In their school days, the friends were known as a posse. As they aged gracefully, the nickname evolved into “The Mixed Nuts,” Bergstrom said.
They and friends have celebrated joys, funny moments and triumphs and helped each other through challenge and tragedy. Their love for one another prompted Bergstrom to do what she could to save her dear friend’s life.
Christensen, a longtime New Prague resident, received a kidney through the National Kidney Paired Exchange Program. The program matches patients needing a kidney with an available donor. Bergstrom, Christensen’s friend since they were sophomores at Shakopee High School, wasn’t a match for her friend, but her donation of one of her kidneys to the national exchange program made it possible for...
To see more on this story pick up the July 6, 2023 print edition of The New Prague Times.
Friends for life Kidney donation helps save a loved one’s life
