A woman in Kentucky donated one of her kidneys to save a stranger's life, and ended up engaged to the man.
Ashley McIntyre's mother heard about Danny Robinson's struggle with dialysis on the radio, and told her daughter. Robinson proposed eight months after the successful surgery.
Robinson, 25, has IgA nephropathy, a condition where an antibody pushes in the kidneys. Diagnosed at the age of 16, he suffered for years and underwent exhausting dialysis treatments.
"I was on dialysis three days a week, four hours a day," he recounted. His family members who were willing to donate a kidney were not a match.
When McIntyre, 26, heard his story, she knew she wanted to help.
"He was so young," she explained. "It was devastating."
After undergoing a battery of tests, McIntyre was deemed a match. As the operation date approached, she decided to meet Robinson and his family.
"We all clicked immediately," she said. "They told me I would always be a part of their family."
Leading up to and following the successful April 2014 surgery, the pair remained in contact, and started dating after a Memorial Day barbecue.
"It was really clear early on that this was 'it,'" McIntyre admitted. She became pregnant a few months later, and Robinson proposed on Christmas Day.
The couple looks forward to continuing their lives together, and McIntyre encouraged others to consider organ donation.
"I know being a living organ donor is not possible for a lot of people," she said. "But it's something to just think about. And even if it's not an option, people can put on their license that they will donate [after death].
"It's just kind of a human thing, something [to] do for another person that could change their life."
