Gail Weisberg has suffered from kidney disease her entire life. The 66-year-old woman, who lives in a Boston suburb, has been on the transplant list for over two years and each night she spends ten hours connected to an at-home dialysis machine. She was waiting for a curbside pick-up at Target last year when a woman approached her car and knocked on the window.
Debbie Munley was leaving Target when she noticed a sign on Weisberg’s car that read, “Wanna be an angel for an angel? BF needs a kidney.” Weisberg’s friend had made dozens of the signs hoping to find a living kidney donor for her friend. “I happened to see that sign. And I’m like, ‘Best friend needs a kidney.’” Munley says. “And I’m like, ‘Hmm, I can do that.’ I thought twice about it, like, ‘Is it crazy? Am I nuts?’” The women chatted and exchanged numbers. Then Munley got tested and she was a perfect match for Weisberg.
The transplant surgery is scheduled for February 15th and the new friends are going to ride to the hospital together in a limo. “For me, it’s just knowing that I helped a stranger,” Munley says. “I want to pass it along. I want to let people know that you can do this.” And Weisberg is beyond grateful for the life-saving gesture and she knows they’re going to be friends forever. “I can’t even express what gratitude I can give to Debbie, because this is really saving my life,” Weisberg says. “Certainly, we’ll be in each other’s lives for our whole life. And I’ll have a part of her with me.”