A devoted husband who spent a year walking the streets with a sandwich board appealing for a kidney donor for his wife is a very happy man after his wife successfully underwent surgery on Wednesday.
Larry Swilling’s extraordinary appeal came to fruition earlier this month when 41-year-old retired Navy lieutenant commander Kelly Weaverling came forward and proved to be a perfect match.
She read online about Larry’s admirable efforts to find a kidney for his beloved wife of 57 years, Jimmie Sue, and said she was immediately stuck with an overwhelming feeling that she could help.
Kelly Weaverling, center, traveled to Anderson, South Carolina, to meet Larry and Jimmie Sue Swilling and donate a kidney to Mrs Swilling
HelpHelp: Larry Swilling walked with his signboard across the community to broadcast his need for a donor
‘Have you ever just had a feeling that was just a strong gut feeling that you just went with your instinct, because you just knew it was right?’ she told CBS. ‘That’s exactly what happened. I could do something to give this family hope.’
Earlier this week, Weaverling flew to Anderson, South Carolina, and met the Swillings.
‘I told her I was going to give her the biggest hug she’d ever had in her life,’ Larry Swilling, 78, told The Virginian Pilot. ‘And I did.’
On Wednesday, one of Kelly’s kidneys was successfully transplanted into Jimmie Sue at the Medical University of South Carolina.
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