'Divine Intervention': From Stranger To Lifesaver, Two Women Share Story Of Friendship And Survival
DAVIS (CBS13) - It's not easy meeting people during the pandemic, but Janey Young calls her newest friendship "divine intervention."
For Young, life is full of rewards no matter how big or small, but the one she decided to give to Daunell Salvador was one of the biggest of all: her left kidney.
"My creatinine level went to almost 9.0 and you can actually die when it gets to 10.0," Salvador told CBS13.
Salvador has polycystic kidney disease, or PKD. It's genetic. Her mother passed away on dialysis waiting for a kidney when Salvador was 18 years old.
Salvador went on dialysis last year and that's when she met Young, her waitlist administrative assistant in the Kidney Transplant Center at UC Davis Health.
The two connected through their love for their dogs, but it was a connection only bound to grow after both of their dogs passed away in the same month. Salvador then donated her dog's old harness for one of Young's other elderly dogs.
"And suddenly, boom. It was almost as if divine intervention. Daunell had taken such good care of her dog, she would take such good care of my kidney," said Young.
Daunell is now on immunosuppressants so visits are limited. The two hadn't seen each other since transplant surgery, but picking up where they left off was easy when they both finally saw each other over Zoom. Their reunion couldn't have come on a better day. April kicks off National Donate Life Month.
"The dialysis was really hard and she changed that for me. And I could never thank her enough," said Salvador.
The two women may have met on different paths, but they agree that they're now a match for life.