A life-saving act of kindness has sparked heartwarming friendship between a law student and a 36-year-old father-of-two .
Chelsea Naylor became a hero when she stepped in to become a donor for Junior Foss, a landscaper who suffered from kidney failure following a stroke in 2017.
Student Chelsea had seen a post on social media raising awareness of organ donation and decided to sign up in the hope that she would be able to help someone in need.
And the decision proved to be a vital lifeline when she was asked to give up a kidney for a stranger, with the 31-year old hoping that the person who received the organ would want to meet her.
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Even though the future law worker lived in Washington, DC, US, while recipient Junior resided nearly 181 miles away in the state of Virginia, Chelsea fulfilled her wish and the pair were finally able to connect.
The brave student underwent a three-hour procedure before meeting with Junior just a few days after their respective operations in April this year were completed.
And it didn't take much longer before the pair formed a unique bond.
"I always wanted to meet the donor to say thank you and to make a new friend,” Junior said. "It's such a blessing for a stranger to do this.”
The father went on to reveal that developing a friendship with Chelsea had been “amazing and cool.”
He explained: "Meeting her for the first time was wonderful. She's an amazing person, I was holding back the tears.
"We have a really nice friendship now. We hang out and she's coming to celebrate my birthday with me at the weekend."
The landscaper’s tremendous gratitude came as no surprise, with the alternative leaving him facing potentially the rest of his life on dialysis.
"I'd been waiting for a kidney since 2018 and getting the call saying they'd found one was amazing, it was the best thing ever,” Junior said.
He expressed how his life with his new kidney was “amazing”.
Junior said: “I got my life back. I can do things that I couldn't do before like get back on the water and I haven't been able to do that for two years."
As a donor and an organ receiver might never meet, the pair felt lucky to have had the chance to connect on a personal level.
Chelsea explained: "Donors have to have counselling before and they really hammered home that I may never know who the kidney went to. We've got the best-case scenario because we get on so well."
The new friends gather once a month and even celebrate birthdays together, and Chelsea has already met Junior's three daughters; Hayley, 14, Krystin, 13, and Destiny, 12.
Both Junior and Chelsea have been encouraging others to look into organ donation.
“It is a small sacrifice for a huge impact on someone else's life,” the law student said.
She also argued against certain misconceptions regarding organ donation, adding: "I was in hospital for four days and within three weeks I was back working out and eating normally.
"People think it takes a massive toll on the body but I was back to normal within a couple of weeks.
"You can still drink which I think is a big worry for most people. If more people knew you could drink I think more people would donate.
"If you're a healthy person, there's no life change.
"It took two or three weeks of my time in exchange for an extra 15 years of Junior's life. It's an incredible pay off."
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