David Nicherie, 29, had been battling kidney failure for a long time. After chronic inflammatory bowel disease and another unrelated autoimmune disease attacked his kidneys, he found himself on dialysis, slowly losing his life.
David required a kidney transplant— but no matter what he did, he couldn’t find a match.
Dozens of donors, including family members and friends, had been tested, but all were rejected for various reasons. Being on the waitlist for a kidney would take years, and the young man was starting to lose hope. Knowing his time was coming, David had started talking to his parents about hospice care. Despite the struggles he was facing, however, he decided to make one last-ditch effort.
David posted in the community section of Craigslist San Francisco and Las Vegas (where he used to live), making a plea for a kidney donor.
“It went something like this: ‘hello my name is David. I have kidney failure and I’m looking for a donor.”
Close to 150 people responded to David’s post, but all were looking for payment of some sort— whether it be cash or help to immigrate to the U.S. Right when he was about to lose hope, he saw an e-mail from a woman named Jessica Morris.
This past December, Jessica Morris, 29, had made a New Year’s resolution to save somebody’s life.
She had been interested in donating a kidney for years, and now she was going to make it official.
“I knew that is what I wanted to do. I had no interest in working out,” she said.
After making her decision, Jessica started browsing groups for kidney donors online. She was hoping to find someone to donate to but wasn’t having much luck. “I wanted someone who was going to be able to tell me their life struggles, what they went through and how it was going to change them,” she told Fox 29. “Also, I wanted it to go to someone who needed it the most.”
When Jessica came across David’s post, she could sense the desperation in his words.
“I knew there was someone in desperate need of a kidney if they are posting on the internet,” she said.
She immediately messaged David with her offer: a kidney, no strings attached.
“I was 100 percent skeptical,” admitted David. “I assumed it was a scam. She was very to the point when I started talking to her more, but I had already been burned.”
As Jessica and David started talking, they learned they had a few things in common. Both were 29 years old, enjoyed a good slice of pizza, and had been born at the same hospital in Newport Beach. David later told Fox 29:
“I just saw it as signs that this was meant to be.”
“I couldn’t have planned it better. I couldn’t have written it better myself.”
It took 6 months of preliminary testing, but in the end, Jessica was a perfect match, and doctors successfully transplanted her left kidney into David.
After the surgery, Jessica reported: “I’m feeling really well without pain meds. I’m surprised how good I’m doing.”
Although Jessica’s family members were concerned about the risks of transplant, the American Transplant Foundation states it’s just as safe as “any other major surgery.” Since the events, David has said, above all else, Jessica’s actions gave him hope: “She gave me a purpose to live.”
Now, he refers to her as an angel— “because only an angel could come down and decide, ‘I’m going to save your life.'”
See their journey story below!
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