Landlord gives tenant second lease on life

Landlord gives tenant second lease on life

Patients in need of an organ transplant never know where the needed organ might be found. In the case of one Chicago man, it came from his landlord. "My friend. She's now my sister. She's just a wonderful lady," says the kidney recipient James Love. At one time, James Love and Barbara Thomas were just acquaintances, whose sons were good friends. But it was that minor connection that would lead Barbara to give James one of her kidneys. He desperately needed it because in 2006 Love's "sickle cell anemia":http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Sca/SCA_WhatIs.html was causing kidney failure. After James and his family moved into Barbara's old home, James' wife Shira talked to Barbara about the house and the conversation shifted to James needing a kidney, which was difficult to find, because of his rare blood type. Barbara, a mother of three boys, gave the father of six children her kidney and a new lease on life. James and Barbara's doctors hope that this unselfish act will encourage more people to donate in a time of need.