Man gives kidney to mom's friend

NEW LONDON, Mo. -- When Linda Evans talked to neighbor Carole Fox about her need for a kidney transplant, she had no idea the eventual donor would be Fox's son.

Gabe Fox lived in St. Louis and barely knew Evans. Still, he said he felt called by God to be tested as a possible donor once he learned of her plight. It turned out to be a perfect match.

The transplant took place Feb. 5 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Both Evans and Fox are doing well.

"I had a good feeling about it and felt the Lord was leading me to do it," Fox, 29, said. "It is hard enough to be a match but between two strangers" it's even more rare, he said.

Fox said he had no second thoughts about giving up a kidney, noting the one he has left will compensate for the one lost. "I'm not going to have any problem down the road," he said.

Evans was grateful. Testing showed her cousin also was a match, but Fox was chosen, perhaps because he was younger, Evans said.

Also, he was insistent on being the donor, she said.

"Even before he went down and tested he came up and said, 'I'm going to match you, and I am going to be your donor.'"

Felt better when she awoke

By the time of the surgery, Evans' kidney was functioning at only about 20 percent efficiency.

She said she felt better as soon as she woke up after the operation.

"Right after surgery my kidney started to function, and I felt great," she said. "Before I had surgery I wasn't worth a whole lot. I couldn't do anything without being exhausted. Now I've got more energy. I feel like I could walk a couple of miles. And my appetite is better. I feel like my life now is worth a lot more."

Evans has had diabetes for 41 of her 54 years and first experienced kidney problems in 1998. She and Fox hope the success of the transplant will illustrate the need for live organ donors and encourage people to sign donor forms.

Fox said donating the kidney was simply the right thing to do.

"I think the Lord gives everybody opportunities to help other people, and you have two choices: obey the Lord and help someone or choose not to," he said. "There have been a lot of times I have chosen not to obey the Lord, and this is one of the times that I did."