Kidney donor connection made after misplaced Craigslist ad

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Photo : Provided by  Glenn Calderbak

BERLIN, N.J. (AP) — A misplaced Craigslist ad has brought together a woman in need of a kidney transplant and a donor who had lost his wife to kidney failure.

Glenn Calderbank, whose wife died four years ago, said he ran across the ad seeking a donor while scanning a section of the site for construction supplies. He responded to the ad and is preparing for surgery on Dec. 1, NJ.com reported (http://bit.ly/1HeueIK ).

"It was like the screen was talking to me," Calderbank said. "I knew I was going to be a match for her. I thought about it, then emailed them and shared my story."

The ad came from Nina Saria and her husband. Saria, of Egg Harbor City, suffers from kidney failure because of an autoimmune disease.

Saria has been on a donor list for more than a year. Offers from friends and relatives didn't pan out because their organs weren't compatible or they backed out. Her husband, Kay, came up with the idea for the Craigslist ad.

"The doctors think I'll be better once the transplant is done," she said. "It should last a long time, they think, because I'm young and active and healthy other than my kidney now. So, I really think (Glenn) can save me, and I can get my life back."

Calderbank's first wife was on a waiting list for two years before receiving a kidney and pancreas from a cadaver, but her body rejected the organs. He said she died in 2011 while on dialysis.

"I'm scared to death," he said of the surgery next month. "I've never had any medical problems and I am, on purpose, going to have my body opened up and have a part taken out. But I'm doing it because I want to help.

"I want to save this woman's life because, in this rare instance, I'm the only one who can."

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Information from: NJ Advance Media.