Indiana Man Finally Gets Life-Saving Kidney After Asking for One at NFL Game

I guess it's true what they say - "you never know until you ask." Or maybe "ask and ye shall receive" might be more appropriate. Both sayings apply to this good (great) news story.

The story actually began back in 2019 when Marcus Edwards went to Soldier Field to cheer on his beloved Chicago Bears. The Jeffersonville, Indiana resident was dealing with kidney failure and didn't know how much longer he had. Marcus had the brilliant idea to make a sign that simply said "I need a kidney." The sign also included his blood type and his phone number. Sure enough, Marcus and his sign ended up on the TV broadcast. The story went viral, getting shared by several news TV stations, and viewers responded. There were lots of people who wanted to help, unfortunately, none of them was the right match for Marcus.

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Fast forward to 2020, when some of those same TV stations did a follow-up on Marcus' story. He was still alive and kicking, but he was also still on dialysis, and still had no match for a kidney transplant. This time around, the right person saw the story - a woman named is Jennifer Michel. Jennifer just had a feeling that she was the one person who could help Marcus. She got tested, and she was a match!

Fast forward to October of 2021, when Marcus finally received the life-saving kidney he had been waiting on for so long. This is also when Marcus and Jennifer finally met for the first time, two days after the surgery. That's when Marcus learned that all this time, Jennifer lived just a few minutes away in New Albany, IN. Out of all the people that saw his sign, and heard his story, the perfect match was another Hoosier, just down the road.

How Much Does a Kidney Transplant Cost?

Normally, I would have no clue about the cost of a kidney transplant, but we recently shared a story about a Kentucky man who had his own amazing kidney transplant story. He was kind enough to share some of the details of his procedure, including the final cost. Any guesses? I can tell you that the cost of transporting the new kidney was over $60,000.

Thanks to WLKY for following the story and sharing the update.