A Colorado family has received an outpouring of support after their mobile billboard asking for a kidney donation went viral.
Bob Stewart posted a sign on the back of his pickup truck reading "Type O Blood, Wife Needs Kidney," and the response was overwhelming.
"I thought, maybe a couple people will come forward," Stewart said from his home in Henderson. "And then a guy took a picture of it and posted it on Reddit, and it went viral."
That guy was Matthew Wyatt, who was able to meet Bob's wife, Michelle, at a fundraiser hosted by the American Transplant Foundation on Thursday. "All I did was post a picture, a few mouse clicks, next thing I know... it's this," Wyatt said.
Overnight, the Stewart's hospital voicemail box was full of people offering their kidneys to Michelle.
"We are in the process of taking a lot of phone calls from many, many interested people that have seen the communication from the patient and are reaching out to try to help," reported Dr. James Cooper, nephrologist and assistant professor of kidney transplants at the University of Colorado Hospital.
Several interested parties are also being screened for a potential match.
"I'm looking for the grace of a stranger," Michelle said. "I talked to my doctor today, and he said I'm getting close. I can feel my body slowing down. I know that I'm changing. He said that it's a good thing this happened, because I'm very close to needing the transplant."
Michelle, 50, has systemic lupus erythematosus, and has overcome two comas, stroke, a seizure, chemotherapy and temporary paralysis. Her kidneys began failing over a year ago, and the average wait time for a kidney in Colorado is five to six years.
More information on Stewart and kidney donation is available on the UCHealth.org living kidney donation page.
