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Indiana couple finds new meaning to 'match made in heaven' as wife donates kidney to husband

Mike Reed was in urgent need of a new kidney two years ago. His wife, Paige, turned out to be his lifesaver.

NEW HAVEN, Ind. — An Indiana man who needed a kidney transplant found the perfect donor right by his side.

Three years ago, Mike Reed began losing energy. In November 2021, tests revealed he was in stage 4 kidney failure.

“I almost went through like a mourning period for the next month or so and thinking, like, ‘This is the end,'” his wife, Paige told NBC affiliate WPTA.

Reed started dialysis immediately and was put on a wait list for a transplant. But as he waited, his body was deteriorating. 

“To mow the yard was a struggle,” Mike said.

A year after his diagnosis, doctors found a match — the woman to whom he'd been married for nearly a decade.

“It’s still like unreal that it worked and there hasn’t been any kind of complications to speak of,” Mike said.

Credit: Reed Family/WPTA
Mike and Paige Reed

Dr. Islam Ghoneim, at Ascension St. Vincent Hospital, said most people wait about four years to get a match, and the fact that Paige was that person was rare.

But the doctor said Mike's case was special.

“Sometimes a match, even an organ match, may be something that’s made in heaven, and in this case, it truly was,” Ghoneim said.

The Reeds say their story shows how life-saving organ donations can be.

“Sometimes people just donate, and they don’t know,” Paige said. “I think for me as the donor, it’s been amazing because from day one, I can see just the impact it’s made on his life.”

For more information on becoming an organ donor, click here.

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