Husband and Wife Save a Life, 15 Years Apart

Both donated organs to Florida's Jeffrey Granger
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 23, 2020 11:35 AM CDT
Husband and Wife Save a Life, 15 Years Apart
Stock photo.   (Getty/faustasyan)

It's an organ donor story with an unusual twist: A husband and wife ended up being donors to the same man 15 years apart, reports CBS News. The story begins in 2004, when 35-year-old Bryan Herrington died after a fall from a roof on his construction job, per CNN. His kidney and pancreas went to Florida's Jeff Granger, who eventually learned his donor's identity and struck up a friendship with Herrington's widow, Terri. Flash forward to 2019, when the kidney Granger received from Herrington began to fail. He posted about it on social media, hoping to find a donor, and he informed his friend Terri—not because he wanted her to give him a kidney but because he thought she should know.

"I didn't want to call Terri but I did," says Granger, per CBS. "I wanted her to be one of the first ones to know and she said, 'Don't worry about it. You'll get mine.'" He thought she was joking, but it turns out she was thinking about becoming a living donor and Granger's predicament cemented her decision. The successful transplant took place at the University of Florida Health Shands Hospital. Now, Terri's kidney is helping keep Granger alive, as is the pancreas from her late husband. "We are back together," she tells CNN. (More uplifting news stories.)

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