NORTH ATTLEBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - When North Attleboro Pop Warner Football Coach Bruce Pugh asked the community for help in his search for a life-saving kidney donation, he never expected to get the outpouring of support he received.
“It’s not like I’m asking for something small,” he said. “I’m asking for an organ.”
But when community members learned of his situation, dozens of them stepped up to get tested to see if they were a match for a donation.
“We had over 130 people respond and I was very shocked to know that 130 plus people reached out on the website to get tested to donate a kidney,” he said.
Although none of those tested came back as a match, his longtime friend, Bill McDavitt, learned he could donate a kidney to another person in need to secure one for Pugh through a donor swap program.
“It felt like I got a second opportunity to help him,” McDavitt said. “Bruce is the type of person who would bend over backward for anybody at any time, so to be able to do something for him, it just feels good.”
Pugh pointed out that the community’s support has not only saved his life but the life of the other person benefiting from the exchange.
As he prepares for surgery, Pugh is thanking everyone who stepped up when he needed them, saying, “Because of them, I have another pass at life.”
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