When Amy Stephens found out she could donate her kidney to her coworker’s husband, she didn’t hesitate.
“I know this sounds crazy,” Stephens said, “But when Ana first started talking about [her husband] needing a transplant … I just had a strange feeling that it would be me.”
Stephens, from Denton, has worked with Ana Rodriguez at RMI in Southlake for about three years.
Throughout their time as coworkers, Stephens had become familiar with the Rodriguez family’s struggles. Ana’s husband, Marco, was in stage five kidney failure. His condition was deteriorating rapidly. Desperate, Ana put out an urgent plea for donors, including her coworkers.
That’s where Amy comes into the picture.
“I just kept thinking that would be such an honor to do that for somebody,” Stephens said.
She tested, and as luck would have it, she found out that she was a 100 percent match on her birthday.
“That was the best birthday present I ever had,” Stephens said, laughing. “To be able to tell Ana. We just cried happy tears.”
Today, Marco has Stephens' kidney. But he says she gave him more than that
“It is a great gift to us,” Marco said. “It will obviously extend my life here to enjoy with my children and grandchildren. And I’m so grateful for that.”
Marco and Stephens say the procedure wasn’t as bad as they were expecting. They’ve both recovered and are back at work. And now, they’re using their story to encourage others to “share their spare.”
“I’ve had so many people say ‘Oh I could never do that.’ But it’s really not that bad,” Stephens said. “I’m not going to say it was an easy process, but it was so worthwhile.”
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