Penguins fan undergoes kidney transplant after sign goes viral
Kelly Sowatsky, the Pittsburgh Penguins fan whose public plea for a kidney went viral earlier this year, found a match.
In March, the Penguins tweeted a photo of the 31-year-old holding a sign that read, "Calling All Hockey Fans! I Need A Kidney! Kidney! Kidney! Gratefully Yours, Kelly."
Penguins fan: Seeking hero. pic.twitter.com/jAeA81Wny7
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 31, 2018
Jeff Lynd, a Penguins fan living in Delaware, saw the tweet and reached out to Sowatsky offering to donate his kidney.
"I knew my blood type matched and I had this feeling it was just something that I had to do," Lynd told Good Morning America.
Eight months later, on Nov. 6, Sowatsky and Lynd underwent kidney transplant surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, according to Sam Kasan of the Penguins' official website.
Sowatsky and Lynd are both recovering well.
"There's no words to really express the gratitude and the way I feel about what (Lynd) did for me because he literally saved my life," Sowatsky said. "And the doctors, too. If you trickle it down, the Pittsburgh Penguins are the reason my life is being saved, too. If it weren't for (Penguins director of new media Andi Perelman) and for me loving the Penguins ... "