Medicine

Shirt Plea Gives Man A New Kidney

January 27, 2018 00:37·
For a week Robert Leibowitz walked around the park wearing a T-shirt that read

For a week Robert Leibowitz walked around the park wearing a T-shirt that read"In Need of Kidney. O Positive. Below the message was his cell phone number. Leibowitz poses with his kidney donor Richie Sully in Times Square

I love them more than anything in the world and they are my rocket fuel.

He went on the "deceased donors list" for a transplant, but he could have waited for up to 10 years, so he chose to tackle the issue another way. Sandoval posted the picture to her Facebook page, and in just 24 hours, it had been shared 35,000 times.

A man who wore a shirt with his phone number and a request for a kidney donor to Disney World received a kidney from an IN man last week-just IN time for National Donor Day on February 14.

A couple who saw him wearing the T-shirt at Disney in August snapped a photo and shared it on Facebook.

One woman took a photo of the shirt, and it quickly went viral, getting over 91,000 shares on Facebook.

"It was incredible. I had 300 calls and texts in seven days", said Mr Leibowitz.

"Totally surprised. I'm from Brooklyn. I'm surprised at everything with help from strangers", Liebowitz, who now lives in New Jersey, said.

But not everyone was a match.

Richie Sully from Fort Wayne, Indiana said he was donating blood to help Hurricane Harvey victims when a friend showed him that viral Facebook post.

Not understanding why, Sully chose to call Rob to share the great news.

"Hi, my name is Richie Sully". I saw your post and I'm O positive. "I have an extra kidney and you are more than welcome to it".

Dive team searches pond near Scotland County boy's home
Authorities in Scotland County say Raul Johnson left his home on Wednesday while his grandfather was babysitting him . The FBI and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation are also involved in the search now.

Escaped inmate caught sneaking back with booze, food
Just more than an hour later, an inmate made a dash for the bag and then raced back toward the prison, contraband in hand. On top of his new charges for the brief escape Henson, also faces charges for marijuana possession.

Idaho Earthquake Felt 150 Miles Away in Salt Lake City
That uneasy jolt that has become all too familiar since an quake swarm began near Soda Springs, Idaho last September. An natural disaster Thursday evening was felt by residents throughout northern Utah and southern Idaho .

The two men talked and meet and eventually, Richie Sully was proven to be the ideal match for the transplant.

Sully is also a single dad - of two little girls, 11-year-old Layla and 5-year-old Emma.

"It's not a big deal", Sully told WPIX in NY of the procedure.

"So I had the T-shirt printed and wore it every day".

Sully said they discussed both of their divorces, had sushi, explored Times Square and were able to visit an icon's home on an infamous date.

Sully said donations didn't really start to roll in until they officially became a match in December.

Mr Leibowitz said Mr Sully had taken several 18-hour Greyhound bus trips from his home in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to come to NY for the various tests and at one point had had to stay in the city for two weeks.

Why did he do it? And I've talked to several donors in the last week that have all said the same thing.

Many people called to help Robert but only four of them flew to NY to take the tests but none of the four matched as the doctors have to look at every tissue and every enzyme and have many details to cover in the case of transplants.

But for Rob Liebowitz and his family - it was a huge deal.

"Learn as much as you can about living donation, and find out your blood type", the foundation adds. He said, "I keep saying, 'Thank you.' But you can't put into words what he did for me, so I'll have to figure out how to do the best I can for the rest of my life".

Recommended News

Join The Conversation

We are pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news.
Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper.
Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.