Just imagine knowing your life depended on a very unlikely organ
transplant. What would you do? Phone a friend? Get in touch with a family
member? Maybe get boozed and try to forget about your issues?
Well, if your answer was "yes" to any of the above, you've clearly not got the innovative imagination of Robert Leibowitz. After spending four years on the waiting list for a life-saving kidney transplant, the dad-of-five took matters into his own hands by heading to Disney Land (a.k.a. the happiest place in the world) donning a T-shirt appealing for everyone and anyone to help him find a match.
Going back to the start of the story, Leibowitz was first diagnosed with kidney issues when he was just 12-years-old. However, as his health gradually deteriorated, he was told the only way to survive would be a three-weekly dialysis treatment and a transplant. Speaking to the BBC, Leibowitz said: "I went on the 'deceased donors list' for a transplant, but I could have waited up to 10 years to get a match that way."
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With such terrifying news, the Brooklynite decided to take matters into his own hands and seek help at Mickey's playing ground. Turning himself into a walking billboard, Leibowitz walked around Disney's park with a T-shirt that said, "In Need of Kidney. O Positive," with his phone number below the message.
"I love to go to Disney World with my kids and I thought where else am I going to go where I'm going to meet more people in the nine days that I'm there," he added.
The "moment" came when a couple asked if they could nab a picture with Leibowitz to post on their Facebook page, which in turn was shared more than 90,000 times. Such is the nature of social media that within a week the young dad found a match in an Indianan dude named Richie Sully.
Sully travelled all the way down from Fort Wayne to New York to perform the tests, and last week the kidney transplant was successfully carried out. Now both Leibowitz and his new BFF are recovering at their homes, with the L-dog stating: "I can't put it into words, I feel amazing. Richie Sully is my hero."
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Now both LADs are facing long and happy lives ahead of them. It turns out, sometimes you really can depend on the kindness of strangers.
Words: Daisy Phillipson
Featured Image Credit: Facebook