DOVER, Tenn. (WTVF) — A woman spotted a Facebook post from a total stranger who was desperate to find help. The answer to that Facebook post has changed the lives of two people.
Natalie Hardison's like a lot of us. Organ donation or being a live organ donor was never on her mind that much.
"It wasn't before I got this job," she said.
The job is Stewart County Clerk.
Suddenly, she was getting to know people in her community whose lives had been saved by organ donation. One man had a double lung transplant.
"I got to watch this man age in reverse," Hardison remembered. "That's when the wheels really started turning for me on this. We have posters that we put up every once in a while."
Hardison's glad so much in her office promotes being an organ donor.
"We have the donation ducks," she said of the rubber ducks around her office. "People can donate three dollars toward organ donation research. They get those little ducks."
It was in June when Hardison saw a Facebook post by someone she didn't know. The post started with a public plea of 'I need your help.'
The post was by Elaine Ford. She's a mom of an 11-year-old daughter. She's also an elementary school music teacher. In the post, Ford explained she was living with advanced kidney disease.
"Her doctor had told her she had gotten to the point she needed a transplant," Hardison said. "A living donor was her best option. When I read the part about how she needed to be here for her daughter, to see her daughter grow up, daughter get married, that tugged at my heart a lot."
Two days after the post went up, Hardison reached out Ford.
"I was floored," Ford said. "I don't know many people who would try to help a stranger like this. No one. Except Natalie."
"I've never in my life felt such a definite call to do something," Hardison continued. "As soon as I saw her post, it was like God speaking to me. This is your job. This is your task."
A few days ago, the two went into surgery at Vanderbilt Health as Hardison donated a kidney to Ford.
Today, both are doing great.
"I wake up in the morning and feel refreshed for the first time in a decade," Ford said. "We decided to name this kidney, our kidney, after Natalie's sister, Beverly. She passed three years ago. We thought it'd be nice and kind to honor her sister."
"Living organ donation saved my life," Ford continued. "It's shown me there are good people in the world. She's my hero. I think she's my guardian angel. I owe her my life."
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
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