Woman Donates Kidney To Stranger, Who Ends Up Being Her Soul Mate

A woman donated her kidney to a stranger who wound being her soul mate. Ashley McIntrye, 25, learned about Danny Robinson’s need for a kidney donation. Robinson, also 25-years-old, was on dialysis treatment and was in need of an organ donor. Ashley was the perfect match — in more ways than one.

Both are from Louisville, Kentucky, and both are madly in love. Danny proposed to Ashley over the holidays, which was less than a year after she donated her kidney to him. Ashley says she never thought this would happen in a “million years,” according to USA Today. She describes it all as a whirlwind and that all of it “was planned out by God.”

They hope to inspire others with their story when it comes to compassion and helping others.

U.K. Transplant Coordinator Todd Maynard says only one percent of donations are living kidney donations. There are more than 100,000 Americans who need kidneys and are waiting.

Ashley realizes it’s not realistic for a lot of people to be a live organ donor, but hopes others will consider putting themselves as an organ donor on their driver license.

“It’s just kind of a human thing, something (to) do for another person that could change their life,” Ashley says.

The woman who donated her kidney to a stranger who wound up becoming the love of her life is the kind of story that gets attention. Her effort not only led to meeting her soul mate, but it gave her a platform to let others know how important organ donations are.

Courier-Journal reveals that Ashley heard about Danny’s situation from her mother, who heard Danny’s mother talking about him on WHAS Radio show, Terry Meiners & Co, in January, 2014.

At the age of 16, Danny was diagnosed with IgA nephropathy, an inflammation that eventually destroys the kidneys. He was on dialysis three days a week for four hours a day. None of his family members were a match. He spent two years on the transplant waiting list. The fact that Danny’s father had died of cancer and that he was diagnosed with a kidney condition so young, touched Ashley.

After a series of tests to donate her kidney to a complete stranger, Ashley was found to be a match for him. She didn’t want to meet Danny, however, until she knew the transplant was going to be a complete success. She feared disappointing him and his family.

When Ashley and Danny met, they “clicked immediately,” and continued talking via phone and text messaging over the next month. They began spending more time together until they started dating. On Christmas Day, Danny proposed to Ashley and she said yes. The two are expecting a baby in June, and look forward to getting their own place. A wedding date hasn’t been set yet.

Ashley and Danny will have a baby girl and they’ll name her Berkli.

Ashley is still amazed that she’s gone from a woman who donated her kidney to a stranger to someone meeting her future husband and father of her children.

“It still doesn’t register to me. Before all of this [attention], we don’t really think about our situation. We just live our daily lives. So to relive it all is kind of surreal, but it’s awesome.”

[Photo Credit: Angela Shoemaker via Courier-Journal]