Craig Settee and his younger brother Kevin grew up playing hockey on the many outdoor rinks of the Manitoba prairies and the frozen rivers of Winnipeg. As members of the Fisher River Cree Nation, the brothers competed in Indigenous hockey tournaments each year. While Craig is six years older, he remembers it was Kevin who had the potential to go pro. Craig, a project and team coordinator with FNHA's Communicable Disease Population and Public Health team, still wonders what could have been.
“Before he was diagnosed with kidney disease, he was really an All-Star player. And even some of the kids that he grew up playing hockey with have gone on to have professional careers. And so sometimes, I think, wow, if kidney disease didn't affect my brother, how far could he have gone?"
At ten-years-old, Kevin Settee first experienced blood in his urine. Scared, he called his parents into the washroom, prompting a visit to the hospital and the start of a decade-long battle with kidney disease. While he survived during his teenage years with treatment, the medication impacted his body and robbed him of the game he loved. His battle ultimately took a turn for the better with a life-saving gift from his older brother in early adulthood.
Watch “Sacred Gift"
The story of Craig and Kevin's kidney transplantation story was adapted into a short animation called “Sacred Gift" in partnership with Dr. Caroline Tait, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Health Equity and Inclusion; Professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary and in collaboration with Sean Muir of Indigenous Story Studios.
The film won an award at the International Society of Nephrology 2025 Community Film Event in February, raising awareness about living donation through Indigenous storytelling. Approximately one-in-four First Nations people will have kidney disease compared to one-in-ten for non-Indigenous Canadians.
With March being National Kidney Health Month and March 9 being World Kidney Day, Craig hopes his family story inspires First Nations people to become aware of their own kidney function and, if the opportunity presents itself, to consider giving the sacred gift of life and becoming a living donor.
“When I hear about other people who are also living donors, whether they're living donors to their family members or to their friends, or there's even people that are anonymous donors, you kind of share in that process of gifting a piece of yourself to somebody," Craig says, adding that, “It means the world to see my brother not having to be on dialysis."
Life after surgery
Although he's not a professional hockey player, today Kevin lives a full and healthy life as the father of two kids. He's a lifetime away from that scary moment in the bathroom as a 10-year-old boy, having hockey and his health taken from him. Craig recalls that five months after the surgery, the brothers were competing in a hockey tournament.
“It felt like a full circle moment where you know, we used to play lots growing up and then in our twenties after transplant we were able to play in some tournaments and skate together on the same team. It was pretty cool to reconnect with the game that we love in that way with each other as well," Craig says.
