Talk about having a special connection. A woman who agreed to donate her kidney to a near-stranger has gotten far more than she bargained for: a love story.
Chelsea Clair and Kyle Froelich met in 2009 at a car show in Danville, Ind. Although they barely knew each other, Froelich mentioned that he needed a new kidney, and Clair volunteered to see if she was a match, the Associated Press reports.
Nationwide, close to 98,000 Americans are waiting for a new kidney transplant, according to LiveScience. And most of the transplants that do occur come from deceased donors. More rare is kidney donation by a live donor.
Miraculously, Clair was a match, and she successfully donated her kidney to Froelich three years ago. But the story doesn't end there.
Nearly four years after they first met, Clair and Froelich told the Indianapolis Star it's hard to pinpoint exactly when they first fell in love. What is clear, however, is that they are a perfect match.
“There’s a bond that no one else, unless they’ve done it, can know," Froelich, now 23, told the outlet. “She’s my best friend.”
“He’s carrying around my kidney," Clair, now 26, replied. “I have to make sure he takes care of that.”
The pair were married on Oct. 12 at the same Danville Conservation Club where they first met, the Star notes.
In a similar love story born out of an organ donation, a woman in Seattle fell in love with the man who received her deceased brother's heart, Fox News reported. At the time, Erin Roberts and Connor Rabinowitz said they hoped to get married.
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