North Carolina woman donates kidney to stranger
Tracy Schmitz works as a nanny, rescues animals, volunteers at orphanages and, perhaps most impressive, just donated a kidney to someone she'd never met before.
"I didn't think twice about it," Schmitz told ABC Raleigh-Durham station WTVD. "Actually, I was thinking somebody needs a kidney, I have two, I can live with one so, why not share the spare?"
"I just knew," she added, "that somebody was dying and they needed one and I didn't think twice about it."
George Adams, a 48-year-old father of three in Columbia, South Carolina, ended up being a match for Schmitz, who lives in Zebulon, North Carolina, and had the operation May 30. She said she was originally inspired to become a donor when she heard a friend's daughter needed a kidney, but the girl wasn't a match.
"She's a lifesaver and a guardian angel," said Adams, who was diagnosed with kidney disease 15 years ago.
The donation inspired four total people, including Adams' wife, also to donate kidneys in an effort to help others.
"I call her my sister," Adams said of Schmitz, "we're brothers and sisters now because we can always be connected."
