2 Air Force vets forever bonded after life-saving kidney transplant at Penn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A Montgomery County bakery and Facebook played critical roles in saving a life and creating a new forever friendship.
Strangers met for the first time at Penn Medicine and there was already an intense, emotional connection.
"I think I cried like a baby, it was awesome meeting her," Craig Harris, a transplant patient, said.
Harris and Morgan Slaughter are both retired Air Force veterans, but there's a deeper connection now.
"I would take a bullet for him and it's crazy to feel that way," Slaughter, a kidney donor, said.
Slaughter saw a post on Facebook from the Collegeville Bakery for Veterans Day that said Harris needed a kidney and it grabbed her heart.
"I've always been super sentimental and emotional when it comes to veteran stuff and the military," Slaughter said. "I don't know how to describe it, a feeling that just happened it just struck a chord with me."
After a little investigating and a quick conversation, Slaughter decided to donate her kidney to Harris, who was in stage 4 kidney failure.
"I had a complete stranger step up, didn't know nothing about me, stepped up, saved my life, it's awesome," Harris said.
Slaughter wasn't an exact match, but through the paired exchange program, Harris moved up on the list and received his new kidney on Oct. 4 from someone else.
"He thinks I saved his life, but he saved mine as well," Slaughter said.
Slaughter said the transplant has given her an incredible new connection.
"Becoming part of their family has filled a void I didn't know I had," Slaughter said.
Slaughter said she recovered quickly and easily from her surgery that happened in May at Penn.
"It really wasn't a big deal, it wasn't terrible pain," Slaughter said.
Slaughter is a nurse and so is Harris' daughter – yet another connection.
"The main thing that choked me up was my daughter was like, 'Now you're going to be here to walk me down the aisle,'" Harris said.
It's gratitude that's boundless for both – two vets now with a forever bond.
Doctors said people can safely live with one kidney.
Harris and Slaughter are both doing well and now, talking and texting every day as forever friends.
