A Michigan daughter took to Facebook to find her dad a kidney instead of possibly having to wait years.
When Michigan resident Jeff Charters and his family received the news that it may take five years to get a kidney transplant through the waitlist, his daughter took matters into her own hands.
Kim Charters decided to try Facebook to find the organ that her dad desperately needed after he entered into stage five kidney failure in the spring.
Kim created the Facebook page titled “Find Jeff Charters a Kidney,” in April, in hopes of finding someone willing to donate.
Read: Six Strangers Involved in Three-Way Kidney Transplant Meet For The First Time
“I had hopes. I knew I was going to try to find someone eventually some way,” Kim told InsideEdition.com. “Facebook was my first resort. The day I made the page I made the page I had a lot of feedback so I stuck with that.”
Little did Kim know that one girl that sent her a message on that first day, a previous high school classmate, would end up being the donor for her father.
Rachael Milks offered to get tested and a few weeks later it turned up she was a match.
“I was hoping and praying. It’s difficult to find 100 percent match,” Jeff said.
Kim was in Hawaii when Rachael told her and Kim figured a phone call for the big news was too casual, so she thought of a more creative way to tell her dad his life was about to change.
She bought a post card and wrote a poem on the back with the good news, and on her return she gave her dad the card in the airport.
“We were waiting for her at the terminal to come. She came out and we gave her hugs and she said ‘by the way she said I got you something’,” Jeff said. “I’m reading it and it took me a couple of minutes for it to hit me, but when it did I just dropped I was balling.”
After just six weeks on the waitlist Jeff had a donor, and by August he was being wheeled into surgery with Rachael, who he didn’t meet until operation day.
With a good luck hug between the two, they went into their surgeries, which were both successful.
“She’s such an amazing young lady. So incredible for what she did for me, saving my life. It was surreal meeting her and it was an honor. I was blessed to have her as part of my life,” said Jeff. “. If she only knew how much I owe her. I’d give her the world if I could."
Read: Organ Donor in the Court: Judge Gives A Kidney To Her Best Friend, Who's Also A Judge
Jeff said he now feels great and has the double the energy that he did before.
“The main thing is I am going to be able to live life and live life happy. I’m not scared everyday of whether I am going to wake up and be able to take a breath," he said.
Watch: Mom Cries Tears of Joy When Pre-School Teacher Offers Kidney To Dying Daughter
