Social media helps Arizona man find organ donor
PHOENIX - One Facebook post has dramatically changed the course of two lives here in the Valley.
Gary Larock and his family were desperate to save his life. In a Facebook post in January 2023, Larock is wearing a shirt that says, Kidney Donor Needed.
"It was very random, I didn't just wake up one day and decide to donate a kidney," Cecelia Hendee said. "It was just presented to me on social media. I'm scrolling Facebook. I noticed that Type O blood was needed, and I knew that I was type O. I just did it. I'm like I’m going to do this, I was born to do this."
"It’s beyond words, it really is," Larock said. "It’s unbelievable that somebody can step up and give up one of their body parts. It’s amazing. You're going to get me all teary."
After getting tested, Larock and Hendee were a perfect match and they realized that they did not live too far from one another in Peoria.
"Spiritually I feel like I have something to offer," Hendee said.
Social media helps AZ man find new kidney
Earlier in the year, in desperate attempt to save his life, a Facebook post went out to help find a kidney donor for an Arizona man. In a show of the power social media can have, that post went on to dramatically change the course of not one, but two lives. FOX 10's Ellen McNamara reports.
The homeschool mom of five says the gift of life has been a valuable lesson for her kids and while the surgery is still days away, the two families have a strong bond.
"They've welcomed my whole family, my kids as their own and vice versa," Hendee said.
"She’s my best supporter, she’s like you can do this, you can do this," Larock said.
When the transplant is complete, the medical equipment in Larocks bedroom will finally get moved out, but he will be connected to the Hendee family for the rest of his life.
"It just gives me hope that everything works out for both of us," Larock said.
The transplant is scheduled for next week on September 13th and the waiting room will be full of both families.
The families also hope that this will encourage other people to donate, even just be a blood donor.