Life saving donation; man gives kidney to his wife

In marriage, they say until death do us part. One Phoenix couple really came face-to-face with that decision, and it was the husband who saved his wife's life.

"It was kind of a special moment to be honest with you," said Rick Prewitt.

Special because together they went in to do something few couples have the opportunity to do.

"We were in the same pre-op room prior to surgery, and I reached out to her. And the nurses saw it, and they knew, so they pushed our beds together so we could hold hands," said Rick.

Together they went in because Rick, who is a perfect donor match, was getting ready to give Jackie a kidney.

"I said we'll I'll just give her one of mine, I didn't know anything about the process. I just assumed she could have one of mine, but it turns out there is a lot of things that have to match and happen, and we turned out to be matched on everything," he said.

For everything to match with a spouse is a very rare occurrence. Jackie was diagnosed with stage four kidney disease and was in dire need of a donor.

"Feeling, really really tired, I'd come home at lunch and just nap, come home and not be able to nap, I sent went to the doctor and he said lets do blood work, and then he said I was stage four," said Jackie.

The operation took place in February, and her body took to the kidney well; there were few complications.

Little did she know, she'd been sharing her life with the person who would save her life for 34 years.

"We have on our car 'one more day'; that's how we do it now," she said.

To learn more about organ donation visit: https://www.azdonorregistry.org