A 69-year-old woman in Dallas, Texas gave up her liver transplant to a complete stranger, whom doctors said only had a day to live.
Brenda Jones was struggling with a slowly failing liver and said she had waited almost a year for a new one.
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While in hospital on July 18, right before she was about to get her replacement organ, she got an unusual request by doctors: would she give away the liver to a 23-year-old woman who was on the brink of death?
Jones said she knew it was something she had to do.
“In my heart, I wouldn’t have been able to live with the liver if I had let this little girl die. And I still had more time. I would have been a very selfish person,” Jones told CBS.
Abigail Flores had suffered a complete liver failure and had been airlifted to the Baylor Medical Center.
In a time of complete desperation, transplant surgeon Dr. Greg McKenna asked Jones if she would be willing to give up her organ.
“The judgment behind it seemed very clear, but it still felt unorthodox nonetheless,” McKenna told CBS.
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Flores’ liver transplant surgery took hours but it was successfully completed.
“I think she saved my life. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be sitting right here right now,” Flores told CBS.
“It makes me feel good because my husband and I, we just got married and we want to have kids,” she added.
Jones said she didn’t know how long she would have to wait again for a new liver, but doctors put her at the top of the list.
Luckily enough, doctors said Jones was able to receive a transplant four days later. Both women are now recovering together in the same hospital.
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