NH Grandmother Will Walk Again Thanks To Stranger's Kidney Donation
BOSTON (CBS) - What a difference a day makes.
"Today you were more sitting upright. You just look so different," Jerry Stewart said to Christina Flynn in her hospital room at Mass General.
"Unbelievable. I am still pinching myself," said Christina Flynn.
Flynn searched for three years for a match - for a kidney. Her doctors said it did not look good. "To find a match would be like winning the Powerball - next to impossible," said Flynn.
Doctors diagnosed her with diabetes at age 12. The last four she has undergone dialysis three times a week and has been confined to a wheelchair. She needed someone with the rare O blood type and compatible.
"I have a lot of sensitivities in my blood because of transfusions and I had two babies," said Flynn.
You can call Jerry Stewart the winning Powerball number. Stewart wanted to do more than be an organ donor when he died. He decided to become a living donor.
The two met on MatchingDonors.com. Think of it as a dating website for organs, like kidneys, that can be taken from a living donor. When Jerry signed up last year he had a message from Christina within minutes. They then went through lots of testing to make sure they were a match.
"I started to cry. I though oh my God, this might be it," said Flynn.
Christina is a grandmother from Southern New Hampshire. Jerry is a single father of four from upstate New York. They underwent the transplant surgery Tuesday at Mass General.
"Knowing she's going to have those precious moments with her family, she's talking about her grandkids she's going to see them graduate, date, get married that overcomes any soreness or pain," said Stewart.
When Christina heads home this weekend there is no more dialysis, and she has big plans to run around with her grandkids. Jerry had a few instructions for caring for his now-former kidney.
"You have to feed it sushi every other week," said Stewart. "Not octopus, no," said Flynn.
Christina admitted with a new kidney and life she'll give sushi a chance.
