A woman has donated her kidney to a stranger after she read about his ordeal on Facebook.
Michael Norton, from Knox County, Kentucky, continued to work as a corrections officer at his local sheriff’s department despite having 13 per cent kidney function.
Mr Norton appeared on ABC-affiliated local news station Wate 6 at the end of 2015 to tell of his wait for a match.
The officer’s wait ended when a woman spotted a post on the Wate 6 Facebook page entitled “Knox County corrections officer wants a kidney for Christmas.”
Touched by the article, Maryanne Ridenour, a young mother, called the University of Tennessee transplant centre and told them she was prepared to dontae.
Following tests to ensure she was physically and mentally fit to be an organ donor, doctors told Ms Ridenour she was a perfect match for Ms Norton. Eight weeks later on 24 February, the pair went under the knife.
Ms Ridenour told Wate 6: “I had no fear. I felt like I was supposed to do this.”
She added that she wanted to help Mr Norton because he “just seemed like a normal guy, just like me and my family.”
Mr Norton said Ms Ridenour is his “guardian angel”.
The pair are now recovering well, according to staff at the University of Tennessee, Wate 6 reported.
Ms Ridenour donated her organ weeks after a school teacher in Wisconsin announced she would give her kidney to her 8-year-old student.
Natasha Fuller, who is in the first grade, was born with prune belly syndrome which means she must use a dialysis machine to survive.
Her teacher Jodi Schmidt revealed to her student that she was going to donate her organ by presenting her with a box with the words “it’s a match” inside.
“I have had some really good days in my life, and that was probably one of the best days of my life,” Schmidt said of watching Burleton's reaction when she learned her granddaughter would be getting a kidney, according to FDL Reporter.
