Acts of Kindness
Man Receives Kidney Donation Through Craiglist
Last year, Jessica made an unusual New Year's Eve resolution - and made it happen.
D.G. Sciortino
06.26.18

When we hear of people donating kidneys or other organs, the donation usually goes to a relative or someone close to them.

But when Jessica Morris of Newport Beach, California decided to donate a kidney, she only knew she wanted to save a life.

She didn’t know who that life would belong to, only that her New Year’s Eve Resolution would be to donate a kidney to someone in need. A far cry from the rest of us who vow to shed a few pounds or stop smoking.

Jessica Morris
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Jessica Morris

“I knew that (donating a kidney) is what I wanted to do,” Morris told KTVU. “I had no interest in working out.”

Once Morris put her intention out there, fate did the rest.

She came across a Craigslist ad by 29-year-old freelance writer David Nicherie. He had a chronic inflammatory bowel disease and an unrelated autoimmune disease that attacked his kidneys.

YouTube Screenshot
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YouTube Screenshot

Nicherie had kidney problems all of his life and had been on dialysis for six years. He was about 15 years away from being eligible for a kidney through the National Kidney Registry and had no family or friends who were matches.

He even started a website to match donors with potential recipients.

But he didn’t have any luck until placing an ad in the Bay Area’s Craigslist “volunteers” section. At this point, he had almost given up and was about to enter hospice.

KTVU
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KTVU

But Morris answered his ad and said she would be happy to donate if she was a match.

Nicherie calls Morris his “angel.”

“An angel because only an angel can come down and decide they’re going to save your life,” he told KPIX. “She gave me purpose to live, she gave me hope. Even if turned out she had been not been healthy enough or couldn’t donate or just something, she gave me something I didn’t have.”

Bay Area News Group
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Bay Area News Group

Many people were scared for Morris.

They didn’t understand why she would risk her own health for a stranger’s.

She explained that she didn’t see the point in letting a hypothetical scenario stop her from saving the life of someone who was actually dying.

YouTube Screenshot
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YouTube Screenshot

Morris ended up being a match and the two of them underwent successful transplant surgery.

She had actually been looking for someone to donate her kidney to for about three years.

“My dad had cancer, and I saw a few people pass away of cancer, and kidney failure is very similar to it,” Morris told the East Bay Times. “People are dying, they’re suffering, and it’s destroying their families, but there’s a treatment for it. I’ve always thought if you have the power to help someone and save a life, why not?”

YouTube Screenshot
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YouTube Screenshot

Nicherie actually got 150 responses from his Craigslist ad but most people wanted money or help with their immigration status in return.

Some started conversations but never follow through.

Now Nicherie, who previously spent up to eight hours three days a week on dialysis, hopes to help others find kidney donors through his website findakidneydonor.com.

KTVU
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KTVU

“I saw death in the eye, and now that I’ve seen what it looks like and what it feels like and what more than half a million people in America go through every day, I realized I can’t turn my back on it,” Nicherie said. “She gave me this new purpose in life.”

Learn more about this miraculous story in the video below.

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