Lewis Merrill & Debra Callaway

In 2003, Debra Callaway sat curled up at home reading her New Yorker magazine. At 49 and in good health, she came across an article that inspired her. She read of a man who did an incredible and selfless act of kindness - he donated his kidney to an anonymous recipient. She learned about the alarming number of people on the donor waiting list - and that anyone could survive with one healthy kidney. Debra decided to donate and would have then, except that she had recently had malaria. For her to pass as a donor she would have to wait three long years. The same year Debra decided to donate, 29 year-old Lewis Merrill received alarming news that would change the course of his life. His doctor informed him he had lupus. With a family to raise and his life ahead of him he began a journey of highs and lows. Surviving on dialysis, his lowest point came in 2005 when he found out his kidneys were functioning at a dangerous rate of 2%. He was in desperate need of a kidney transplant. These two strangers were matched together in the fall of 2006. “I thought, wow, it finally happened”, says Debra. “Somewhere in this hospital a man has my kidney. His life will change forever.” They knew little about each other, only as much as they could squeeze from their nurses. It wouldn’t be until nine months later that they would meet. To this day they share an incredible bond. “What I can do with my kids now is all possible because of the heroic gift from Debra,” says Lewis.