It began a month ago when an anonymous donor gave his kidney to a sick woman. Rick Stone of Gastonia says a friend inspired him to donate.
Jan Boyd of Chester, SC was the recipient. Doctors first thought Boyd's husband was a match but at the last minute it was determined that wasn't the case. Bobby Boyd decided to donate anyway. His gift went to Kammie Weaver of Shelby. Weaver's family member Bryan Harmon then donated his kidney to a woman on the donor list - Amber Perciful.
The pairs came together for the first time at a reception at Carolinas Medical Center. It was just four weeks ago the six were undergoing operations on the same day.
"Because of him [Rick] I'm in better health I've been in in 20 years," Jan Boyd said.
"People have a gift of life just by having a good kidney," Bobby Boyd said.
Amber Perciful had been on dialysis for 10 years. She says she went to the doctor 3 days a week for 3 1/2 hours and was unable to keep up with her young son. "It was a long road and to get that phone call was elating," Perciful said.
It's called paired exchange - a way of swapping incompatible organs into an ideal situation. According to a release by the hospital: "The transplants involved six operating rooms and surgeons within a 12-hour period, making it CMC's largest kidney exchange and likely the largest ever single-center kidney exchange in North Carolina."
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