When South Carolina-based mom Lashonda Pugh wrote an empassioned message on the back of their family car pleading for a kidney donor [1] to save her son's life, she had no idea how it would affect one passer-by. While shopping at a local Walmart, 40-year-old Starr Gardy saw the message and couldn't ignore it. She had to do something.
"I just, I can't really explain it, it just completely moved me and I just, I took a picture of it, and I went in Walmart, and I was shopping," Gardy told ABC. "And all I could picture was, 'there is someone in here who has this weight on their shoulders.'" Starr later sprung into action and donated her kidney to Lashonda's son Daniel Jones [2] through the living donor program at the Medical University of South Carolina.
The family is grateful for Gardy's kindness, and it's brought them together in an unexpected way. "It's a lot. Knowing that I have her organ in my body, we're family now," said Jones. "She's not just a stranger anymore, she's my aunt."
They're both recovering and doing well. ABC reports that Gardy's recovery should take about six weeks, and Jones can go home in a few days.
