Woman Finds Lifesaving Kidney on TikTok

In a 10-second TikTok video, Katie Hallum infused humor into her plea for a lifesaving kidney. She stepped out from behind a door as the words "POV: I overhear you say you have an O blood type and healthy kidneys" appeared on screen, then mouthed a quote from The Mandalorian: "You have something I want." More than a year after posting that video, the University of Oklahoma student diagnosed with an incurable kidney disease got just what she wanted, courtesy of a stranger on the internet. Among the more than 170,000 people to view Hallum's video was Savannah Stallbaumer of Topeka, Kansas, who recalls thinking, per ABC News, "Imagine I actually can, like, help this girl, and I didn't do anything about it?" So she commented, "How do I get tested?"

The 21-year-old Hallum, diagnosed with IgA nephropathy, figured she'd get a kidney from a deceased donor at some point, so she tried to talk 22-year-old Stallbaumer down, per the Washington Post. But the licensed practical nurse who'd seen patients struggling with dialysis wasn't turned off. "She told me as long as it bought me a few years off of dialysis, she didn't care," Hallum says, per the Independent. "She wanted to do this." As Hallum continued to joke about her condition—noting in one TikTok video that becoming terminally ill in college could constitute "scholarship fuel"—Stallbaumer was undergoing testing to see if she would be a suitable kidney donor for Hallum. She eventually learned she was, as ABC reports, "a perfect match."

She surprised Hallum, who's studying journalism, with the news in person, showing up at a restaurant with a sign reading, "BREAKING NEWS: You're getting a new kidney." The transplant took place on Aug. 17 and Hallum, who received Stallbaumer's left kidney, is recovering well. She tells the Post she has more energy than she's had in years. "To know that Savannah, who only knew me from the internet, was so willing to give up a part of herself, it was incredibly humbling," Hallum tells ABC. "Having the kidney in her is like an unbreakable bond," Stallbaumer adds, per the Post. The 22-year-old, who hopes to work in oncology or dialysis, is to begin studying to become a registered nurse in January. But she's been invited to spend Christmas with Hallum's family first, per ABC. (More uplifting news stories.)