STALLINGS, NC & INDIAN LAND, SC (WBTV) -- In a story that defies all odds, on Wednesday a Stallings man is receiving a kidney from an Indian Land woman who until recently he'd never met.
And it turns out she's such a perfect match for him, it's as if she's his sister -- even though they're not related at all.
David Ensley of Stallings has suffered from polycystic kidney disease since 2001. Things took a turn for the worse in 2009 when his kidney failed. He needs a new one or he says he will eventually die.
But finding a donor proved difficult. His siblings were unable to donate.
Even though she knew it was a longshot, in March one of those sisters, Jennifer Scoggins, decided to set up a Facebook page to look for a donor.
"A girlfriend of mine called and said she had a co-worker that had actually found her match on Facebook," Jennifer said. "I thought, 'what do we have to lose?' I mean, at [that] point, as sick as he was, why not?"
One of the people who saw that Jennifer had created the page was an old friend of her and David's named Chuck Cunningham.
"I just mentioned it to my wife, and said, you know, this is sort of a shame," Chuck said.
Chuck's wife Amy felt moved by the situation.
"I said, 'oh I really hope somebody donates a kidney for them, that's really a shame,'" she said. "And I didn't think anything else about it after that."
At least for a while she didn't. Amy says something wouldn't let her forget about it. She eventually decided to get tested to see if she could be a match.
After a long process, she heard some stunning news. She was such a perfect match it was as if she was David's sibling.
David says he was told the odds of finding such a perfect match were 20 million to one.
Amy says it's not a coincidence; this is something she was meant to do.
"This is completely God," she said.
"We feel like God has had His hand on this from the beginning," Jennifer said. "Amy said she was always convinced in her heart she would be a match -- and she is."
Amy says she lost her father five years ago, and doesn't want David's two daughters, aged 16 and 20, to go through the same thing.
"They still need their dad," Amy said. "They need to be walked down the aisle. He needs to be there when they have children."
"If I can help another girl keep her daddy for 10, 15, 20 years just by donating a kidney -- heck, I got two."
Amy says doctors have told her that her kidneys are in such good shape that she should be able to live normally with just one.
Amy says she's not looking for any credit for donating her kidney. She says she feels it's something God wanted her to do.
But David is grateful nonetheless.
"Amy is a special person," he said. "I mean, there's not many people out there that will do what she's doing."
"My daughters are everything to me. Amy has given me a new lease on life."
The surgeries are scheduled for Wednesday morning starting at 8:00.
Both families say they hope their story encourages others to volunteer to be organ donors.
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