Jeff Mitchell and Mary Holand had an indescribable bond before they had even met.
"I felt like I already knew her," Mitchell said.
Two months ago, Jeff gave Mary a hug. He had already given her so much more, a kidney.
"He very special to me," Holand said. "I'm excited, I call him my angel."
Sentara General Hospital in Norfolk only sees the likes of Mitchell once a year at the most, someone who decides to anonymously give a kidney to a person in need.
"It's like I have another family now," Mitchell said.
Tuesday Mitchell was honored at Sentara's living kidney donor celebration. Mitchell went up and spoke about what inspired him to donate.
He had no connection to the cause, he just saw the need and took action for someone who needed help.
Holand has heard the story before, but that doesn't stop her from crying every time.
"I couldn't meet no nicer person, I don't believe," Holand said.
Holand was on dialysis, and sometimes struggled to find the motivation to go. Weeks after the surgery she felt renewed.
Life on a carrier
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Va. vanity plates
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Topless PTSD fight
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Way too tan
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"Now basically I can go where I want to go and basically do what I want to do, and that means a lot to me," Holand said.
Mitchell doesn't have another kidney to give to someone. "It's a one time shot," he jokes.
But if he could donate again, and change someone's life like he changed Holand's, he would.
An unbreakable friendship, created by one kidney, and countless hugs.
