Jun 11, 2009 7:13 pm US/Eastern
Perfect Stranger: Brooklyn Man Gets Gift Of Life
Kidney Donor From Pittsburgh A Match For Flatbush Patient
By JOSH LANDIS, CBS 2 HD NEWS
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Nancy Murrell and Anthony Cottman have never met, but they're about to be joined for life.
Murrell, 47 of Pittsburgh, is giving one of her kidneys to 45-year-old Cottman, who lives in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
"My friends have said, 'Can't you just donate blood?' But there are people in this world who need an organ to live. And that's what it is," Murrell says.
The two found each other through a Web site that unites potential donors with recipients. While 77,000 people need kidney transplants each year, Cottman will become one of the 18,000 who are lucky enough to receive one.
"It means a new beginning," Cottman says. "Some people look at you like 'I'm sorry, you're going to die but, I love you but, I can't help you.'"
The two will meet for the first time just a few days before the scheduled June 25 surgery at Mt. Sinai.
"He said he's going to say 'Hi Nancy, it's great to meet you. Now let's do this before you change your mind,'" Murrell says, laughing about Cottman's sense of humor.
Cottman, meanwhile, knows that the ball is on her court until the very end.
"Anyone who wants to donate [has] until you get on the table to change your mind, but I know she's not going to," Cottman says.
But Cottman's not the only one getting something out of this surgery. Murrell says she's getting something powerful in return as well.
"I know it's going to make a really big difference in one person's life," Murrell says.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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