2:13
- wellness
- November 21, 2018
Hockey fan holds up sign at game asking for kidney
Pittsburgh Penguins fan Kelly Sowatsky, 31, took matters into her own hands.
\"I thought this was my last chance to get the attention of somebody in a really big way,\" Sowatsky told \"Good Morning America\" on Tuesday.
Sowatsky created a sign that said, \"Calling all hockey fans! I need a kidney! Gratefully yours, Kelly,\" along with a phone number.
A hockey fan asked for a kidney on a homemade sign during a game — and found a match! @PaulaFaris has more on their emotional reunion. https://t.co/W1vUNMab63 pic.twitter.com/8BNrSTdvcG
— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 21, 2018
The Penguins tweeted a photo of Sowatsky holding the sign and it soon went viral.
The tweet caught the attention of fellow Penguins fan Jeff Lynd, who reached out to Sowatsky on Facebook.
\"I saw desperation, I saw courage and I saw she needed help,\" Lynd told \"GMA.\" \"I knew that my blood type matched. I had this feeling it was something I just had to do.\"
Sowatsky and Lynd, who happen to also be teachers, met and were indeed a match.
Two weeks ago, Dr. Amit Tevar performed the life-saving surgery at UPMC Montefiore Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
\"Jeff had an excellent kidney to donate,\" Tevar told \"GMA.\" \"Kelly should do very well for a very, very long time with that kidney.\"
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