Viral photo gets man a kidney donor
The single act of posting a picture online will save a life.
"I started crying and screaming and crying and screaming. I was so excited."
That's Rocio Sandoval's reaction to the news that her friend will get a kidney donation after she posted online that Robert Leibowitz needed one.
He says it's a Hanukkah miracle.
"Tuesday he gives me the call. He said, 'guess what? We're a match.'"
All because Rocio posted a picture of the New Jersey man while he was on vacation at Disney back in August.
"I expected 100 shares," she said. "I was hopeful for 100 shares and when I got to 90-something thousand, I was floored."
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That's when Richie Sully entered the picture. A friend told the Indiana man about the story and Richie got tested.
It took months, but Richie was given the greenlight for the transplant Tuesday.
Now there's a kink in the plans, making sure Richie has the funds to recover after the surgery.
"I have to take a caregiver with me to the most expensive city in the world and stay there for two weeks, while I wait for them to tell me that I'm healthy enough to go home," Sully said.
A GoFundMe page has been setup to cover those costs.
It's the final blessing Richie needs to save Robert's life.
"It's funny when I told my kids, they were just screaming," Leibowitz said. "I'm surprised you didn't hear them in Orlando."
The surgery is scheduled to take place January 18.
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