One woman’s kidney donation set off a chain of organ transplants. Then they all met

Twelve donors and recipients of a kidney exchange had an emotional meeting recently in Chicago.

The recipients, many in tears, hugged and thanked their donors for their selfless actions. The donors, in turn, expressed how gratifying it can be to help someone in need — even a complete stranger.

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The exchange, which took place last month at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, involved six patients in need of a kidney and six people who offered to help.

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Organ transplant chains are commonly set off by family or friends of a patient who want to help a loved one, but aren’t matches, so they donate to someone else. Then a loved one of that recipient also donates to someone else.

In this case, it was a Good Samaritan named Kimberly Cooper who decided to donate her kidney to Brendan Flaherty.

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READ MORE: 260 Canadians died in 2016 waiting for an organ transplant

Flaherty’s friend, Philip Cameli, who wasn’t a match for him, donated to someone else. His recipient’s daughter then donated to another patient. And so on.

Cooper told CBS News that she had no idea her decision would set off such a chain.

“You’re like, oh my God, really? Six people were saved just because I chose to be selfless for a day,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "You're like, oh my God, really? Six people were saved just because I chose to be selfless for a day," she said.

The pairs, who are all on the road to recovery after successful surgeries, met for the first time late last month.

Cameli described the moment as “remarkable” in an interview with ABC News.

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“I’m just looking at her and holding her hand. It’s remarkable to think that my kidney’s inside of her,” he said of recipient Clotilde Ruiz. “I hope she just takes it and runs with it.”

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Dr. Joseph Leventhal, who helped lead the team of doctors who carried out the surgeries, said organ swaps are a powerful way to solve donation needs.

“I think it speaks to the power of living donation,” he explained. “It can really create access to transplants that can otherwise be very difficult.”

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Organ donation in Canada

According to a 2017 report from Canadian Blood Services, 260 people died in 2016 waiting for a transplant.

In total, there were 2,835 organ transplant procedures across Canada that year. And 4,492 Canadians were still on wait lists for organs by the end of the year.

The Canadian Transplant Society explains that more than 1,600 Canadians are added to organ wait lists each year.