If you haven’t heard of Tinder yet, let us just tell you about it, because for one couple, what should have been a simple smartphone dating application, turned into something that saved a person’s life!
Not too long ago, 43-year-old Florida resident, Rich O’Dea, matched up with a new woman, 35-year old, Jennifer Angelo Thomas, using the Tinder game. At their Imagine Dragons concert date, the two ended up so deeply engaged in conversation, Rich ended up sharing some pretty personal and serious information.
It was something weighing heavily on his mind, so he told her about his best friend, Scott Bragan, whose wife, Erika Schofer Bragan, had been diagnosed a few years ago with polycystic kidney disease. She’d been on the donor list for years, to no avail. The problem was, Erika has blood type O Negative. This blood type is special because it can be donated to save literally anyone, with any blood type, earning people with it, the nickname “universal donors”. The caveat, is that a person with the rare O Negative blood, can only take a donation from someone else who is also O Negative.
IMAGE SOURCE: ELITE DAILY
Jennifer went home and thought about Rich’s story for a week. Then, deciding she “couldn’t imagine being in [Erika’s] shoes and her children losing their mother”, a week later, Jennifer had her blood tested. She said, “I knew I had to find a way to help [Erika].” And what luck! Because it just so happened that Jennifer was O Negative!
So, of course, Jennifer called up Rich, telling him she wanted to donate one of her kidneys to Erika. She then spent the next three months going through testing: blood work, 24-hour urine analysis, and CT scans, to ensure a successful transplant. Erika’s transplant is now set for Nov. 18th and they couldn’t be more grateful or excited.
IMAGE SOURCE: PEOPLE
Scott, who now says Jennifer is part of the family and calls her, “our angel”, says, “So many things had to align for this to come together. Everything happens for a reason and as weird as it sounds, we have a dating app to thank for saving my wife’s life.”
What an incredible woman!
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