ORLANDO, FLA. (WHDH) – Robert Leibowitz owes his life to a T-shirt he wore to Walt Disney World. The story of how he found a kidney donor went viral back in December, when a total stranger saw a photo on Facebook and volunteered to donate a kidney. Now a month later, he is recovering and grateful for the live-saving donation.
Kidney donors often wait years for a match, but Leibowitz found his match in just a matter of months, and it was all thanks to that T-shirt he wore at the happiest place on earth.
The 60-year-old had suffered from chronic kidney disease for 15 years, but knew he was running out of time. So he made a shirt to wear on his trip to Orlando that got right to the point: “In need of a kidney. O positive. Call 917-597-2651.”
Leibowitz said his 14-year-old daughter came up with the idea of the shirt, thinking that wearing it at Disney would give him maximum exposure, Fox News reports.
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One woman took a photo of the shirt, and it quickly went viral, getting over 91,000 shares on Facebook.
Soon, Leibowitz started receiving calls from potential donors who had seen the photo, but while they had the right blood type, they didn’t meet the other requirements.
Then, Richie Sully called from Indiana, after a friend from Texas shared the picture. He decided to get on a bus, traveling 14 hours to New Jersey so he could get tested. On Dec. 12, they finally got the news they were hoping for: Sully was a perfect match.
“As a father, the one thing I want above all else is more time with my beautiful daughters. That’s exactly what I’m giving this man; 20 years of healthy time spent with his kids,” Sully said. “No more dialysis 12 hours a week. No more hoping and waiting. Just peace of mind for him and his family.”
Leibowitz said he was in shock that their unconventional search for a donor actually worked, and that someone would be willing to travel halfway across the country to help. The father of five said he just wants to stay around for his children.
“I am a single dad. I love them more than anything in the world and they are my rocket fuel. That’s what keeps me going,” he told the station.
The two men underwent the transplant surgery Thursday in New York. Once Leibowitz and Sully both recover, they say they plan to reunite where the “magic” all started: the Magic Kingdom.
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