Fall River ER Nurse Will Donate Kidney To Coworker
FALL RIVER (CBS) - It's a gift like no other, one Fall River emergency room nurse to another. Allyson Thompson is donating a life saving kidney to Kristin Sheffield. The two nurses are usually on the other side of the exam table, but on Monday they'll be in adjacent operating rooms for the transplant. And they say they're ready.
Kristin and Allyson are both in their 30's, both single mothers and both friends who are about to get a lot closer. "It means everything. It means I get to watch my kid grow up and it means I have a best friend for life now," Kristin says.
"It really is a great friendship and considered family at this point for sure," adds Allyson.
They're both ER nurses at Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, working the night shift. But Kristin has been out of work for four months undergoing dialysis three times a week, four hours at a time for her failing kidneys. "It's been a long road. Probably a little over a year ago I started the transplant journey," Kristin says.
Two transplant possibilities fell through, so when Allyson found out her friend needed a transplant, she stepped up. "We only found out that we were truly a match just a few weeks ago," Allyson explains.
The big day is Monday at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence. "I wanted to get back to work and come off dialysis and go on with my life and it just seemed very far away at that point, and this little ray of sunshine came through, huge," says Kristin.
But recovery is not fast. Allyson will be out of work for three months. Friends are raising money for her and her two sons to help tide them over. And still her first thought is Kristin. "I want to give her back that chance of life again," Allyson says.
Optimism for success is high, so are their spirits, and the transplant will bring a new bond to two young women who are already close friends.
The hope is that they'll both be back to work in the emergency room in a few months.
For more information: GoFundMe page for Allyson | Facebook Fundraiser for Kristin
