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| Flight attendant Jenny Stansel (left) will get a life-saving kidney donation from her pilot Captain Jodi Harskamp (right) in Seattle on March 13 |
An Alaska Airlines flight attendant has battled chronic kidney
disease for the last 15 years.
Things took a turn for the worse last March when she
became ill on a flight.
"I had to take a passenger's seat on my last
flight," "I knew something was very wrong, but I thought that maybe I
had been working too much and overdoing it like I always do." She said in
an interview with ABC News
She soon learned that her disease had progressed and
her kidneys were functioning at just 6 percent of their capacity.
Her doctors insisted that she began dialysis, an
intensive treatment for end-stage kidney failure. Her only way off dialysis was
to find a kidney donor.
The 38 year old Jenney Stansel created a Facebook page "Keep
Jennie Kickin’ with JoDiva the Kidney" and sent out an email to see if
anyone would be interested in helping her.
She said at least three of her co-workers agreed to
take a compatibility test, but only one of them was a match: Captain Jodi
Harskamp.
Stansel and Harskamp, both based in Anchorage, Alaska,
had become close friends after Harskamp’s home caught on fire a few years ago.
"I didn’t know her that well back then, but I
heard about the fire, so I took her some dinner and a few bottles of
wine," Stansel said. "I had a house fire when I was 15 years old and
I know how devastating it can be."
Doctors confirmed Harskamp was a viable match and
scheduled the surgery right away. The transplant is set to take place on
Monday.
Harskamp was not immediately available for an
interview with ABC News, but she recently told ABC News Seattle affiliate KOMO
that she was happy to help her co-worker.
"I mean, I lose a kidney. She gets to live, I'd
say it's a pretty fair trade, right?" Harskamp said in the interview.
Stansel said she
is encouraging others to register for organ donation. She said she’s already connected one person
with two possible donors via social media.
"I’m going to help other people get
kidneys," she said. "I know that I have a bigger mission ahead of
me."
credit: abc NEWS
My opinion
this is indeed great, no good goes unrewarded. the little kindness of Stansel to Harskamp many years back has led to this great kindness of Harskamp to her. let's show each other love because we never know who will pay us back in the future.
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