Wife is perfect match for husband who needs kidney

Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Dayton wife donates kidney to husband
After a local woman found out her husband had kidney disease, she donates her own to save him.

HOUSTON -- A couple from Dayton, Texas knew they were a pretty good match when they met seven years ago, but now they have medical science backing up just how compatible they really are.

Dave Wright collapsed in their home in August and was rushed to the hospital. When he regained consciousness, he was told he was in the final stages of kidney disease and would require dialysis several times a week until a donor was found.

Dave and his wife Elizabeth knew that was a process that could take years.

"That's my husband. I would give him anything I had," she said.

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Elizabeth immediately knew she wanted to donate one of her kidneys but feared she wouldn't be a match.

"To see him go through dialysis and see how tired he was, he didn't have the energy to do anything. I just said, let me try," she said.

Dave was in awe of her selflessness.

"She brought it up and I was like, wow," he said. "It seems so incredible."

More surprises from the doctors at Houston Methodist Hospital but this time it was good news. They found out Elizabeth is an near perfect match.

"A lot of people think you have to be relatives to donate but we are just two people in love and we are a match," Elizabeth said.

Now, their surgery is set for next month. Just six months after his diagnosis and likely years earlier than it would have been waiting for a stranger to donate.

The family says this ordeal started off challenging their faith and now it's renewed it.

"(God) never closes one door without opening another one," Elizabeth said. "It's brought us closer together as a family and it's taught us to not take each day for granted."