ANNABELLA, Sevier County — One family from Annabella knows the journey to Salt Lake City all too well. There they spent several frightening hospital stays for their sick son.

“I tried to go back to swimming practice and then I passed out,” said Henry Coulter.

Henry Coulter feels most comfortable in the water, but due to an illness he suffered as a small child, his kidneys never recovered.

His father, Matthew Coulter, donated his kidney to his son years ago.

“I knew Henry would need multiple transplants because transplanted kidneys slowly fail over time,” said Alisa Coulter, Henry’s mother.

She told KSL TV that Henry Coulter lost his kidney function and most of his energy over the course of his life.

“Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I would get up at 4 a.m. to drive to Salt Lake City,” said Henry Coulter. “My dad drove while I slept. We drove to Primary Children’s Dialysis Center and I had a three-and-a-half hour dialysis session.”

The teenager was exhausted from the sessions and the drive and missed his normal life.

“When he couldn’t swim last year, it was just devastated for a lot of these kids,” said his swimming coach Staci Kling.

Through a collaboration between the teams at Intermountain Sevier Valley and Primary Children, he was able to receive dialysis in his local area in Richfield.

“I was able to go to prom and hang out with friends,” Henry Coulter said.

After failing to find a suitable kidney donor, he learned there was one out there. He just didn’t know who.

Retired Army National Guard Major Monica Leger knew she wanted to donate one of her kidneys.

“For months I had every test imaginable done on my body,” Leger said.

When the Coulters got her number and contacted her, both parties were thrilled with the connection.

“She told me I had a good kidney,” said Henry Coulter. “She’s been to training camp twice, run a marathon and traveled all over the world.”

To commemorate this life-changing event, Leger got a tattoo with an “H” for Henry in the center.

“I told Henry I’m so happy that he now has a choice in some of these big life decisions,” Leger said.

Thanks to Leger, Henry Coulter is back in the pool with his new kidney. He said he has a lot of catching up to do.

“He’s just getting over the cobwebs, but he’s full of new energy and can now be with his teammates,” Kling said.

Blow by blow he returns to normal.

“I just love the water so much,” he said.

Swimming training doesn’t start again until October and Henry Coulter said he plans to rebuild his strength in the meantime.