Sometimes you meet a friend that becomes the second part of your name. You know the friend. The Ethel to your Lucy or the Sookie to your Lorelai. You go together like all of the cliche things that complement each other. A duo in California now have more things to add to their close relationship, their kidneys.
Chris Morales and Debbie Thompson have done everything together since they were teens, even moving into their first apartment together at 18. It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that when Thompson found out in 2015 that Morales needed a kidney, she immediately offered it to her.
The twist came several years later when Morales’ husband, Ron, also found himself in need of a new kidney. That’s when Debbie’s husband Brad stepped up to be a donor for his friend. Ron told Good Morning America, “He called me up on the phone and was like, ‘Hey I hear you need some extra body parts.'”
Brad did have a couple of stipulations, “I said you can’t call it little Brad. You can’t bring me flowers every year on the anniversary like Chris does,” he told GMA. Amazingly both Thompsons were a match, though Ron had to receive multiple blood transfusions before the transplant to decrease the likelihood of rejection due to the men having different blood types.
The two couples now share four kidneys between them and have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season. It’s the gift of friendship that will last a lifetime. Watch the interview below: