Christine Royles needed a new kidney, so she did what anyone in such a situation would do: she put a sign on the back of her car, asking strangers with the right blood type to call or text her. Surprisingly, it worked! The 23-year-old now has a potential donor lined up, with surgery schedule for May, The Portland Press Herald is reporting .
The Portland, Maine woman had been feeling sick for weeks, without knowing what was wrong, until her doctors finally diagnosed her Lupus in 2013. A few months later, she learned that she also had another disease ANCA Vasculitis – an autoimmune disease that attacks the kidneys.
Like tens of thousands of other people with failing kidneys, Christine was placed on a donor waiting list – a list that includes 100,000 people. The National Kidney Foundation reports that only 17,000 people needing a kidney transplant receive one each year, and nearly 4,500 people died while waiting for kidneys in 2013.
Christine – who says she spends 10 hours each day after work going through dialysis – wasn’t going to take those odds lying down, she tells WGME (Portland), even if that meant writing a message on the back window of her car.
“I hate taking chances like that. That’s why I made it my mission to find a kidney and advertise like that.”
30-year-old Josh Dall-Leighton just happened to be driving the the mall one day when his wife spotted the message. His wife, Ashley, explains what happened next.
“I looked over, and I go, ‘Oh, my God, that’s the saddest thing I’ve ever read.’ And he’s like, ‘What?’ And I read it out loud, and he said, ‘Did you get the number? Text her right now.’”
The husband and father of three children had a matching blood type. He decided, on the sport, to donate a kidney to a woman he had never met.
“I just looked at my wife and said, ‘I have to try.’ I think it was the fact that I have three kids of my own, and that really resonated with me. If (my wife) needed a kidney and I couldn’t provide for her, I would hope that somebody else would kind of step up and help her out.”
As it turns out, Josh is a good potential match. Surgery is scheduled for May.
In the meantime, Christine is working to make sure her donor’s needs are met. Josh will have to miss at least a month of work for the delicate surgery; Christine, who works as a waitress, hosted a pancake breakfast at Applebee’s to raise money to cover his expenses.
“I’m shocked that someone is going to do this for me. The fact that someone with a young family is going to take time off work to help some random person is unbelievable to me.”
Christine has also set up a GoFundMe account to raise money for her kidney donor’s family.
[Image courtesy of: The Portland Press Herald ]
