Two stories- one miracle

Kimberly- the donor

Two little boys needed a mother. A unique physiology placed a young professional in the position to make sure they had a mother to see them grow up. Meredith Kelly, 31, was in danger of dying from kidney disease. Kimberly Adcock, 27, had a chance to save her. What choice did she have? Her head and heart told her it was her fate - a clear call that needed a response.

A Houston resident, Kimberly had heard at church about Meredith. A desire to support Meredith's mother, a member of her church, led numerous people in the congregation to be tested to see if they were a match. A total of 40 people were tested but none of them matched. Kimberly thought, "I won't match anyway, so why not? I'll get tested. Then I'll put it to rest."

She was a nearly perfect match.

"It was, 'OK, God, I've got it,'" Kimberly said. "She's going to die without this transplant. She has a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old, and they won't have their mom for the rest of their lives."

He talked about living a life of significance.

Kimberly had other motivations to donate. Her father had lost a kidney to cancer. He's fine now. She also had been reading The Generosity Factor by S. Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A. He talked about living a life of significance. The decision for Kimberly, as people say, was a "no-brainer."

The operation at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center went fine, except for a minor complications – the medication for pain made her sick and she had minor bleeding. But after eight days in the hospital, Kimberly was released and returned to work after a month. Without complications, donors return to work in about two weeks unless their job involves physical labor.

"It definitely hurts," Kimberly said. "It takes time for your body to repair. They said, ‘In three months, you'll be back to normal.‘ They were right. Three months, and I'm all right, no restrictions on my life, except maybe sports - not really a stretch for me."

Meredith- the recipient

Continue Meredith's story.

Obesity leading cause of kidney failure.

Obesity leads to diabetes or high blood pressure which leads to kidney failure. Kidney failure leads to the organ waiting list (or death) and, if lucky - very lucky - transplantation of a kidney.

The map below shows the state of our health related to BMI - body mass index. A BMI over 30 is obese.