Couple who found each other on Tinder match for kidney donation
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(Photo courtesy Fox 5 NY)
When Alana Duran and Lori Interlicchio swiped right on each other on Tinder, signaling a mutual interest, they never realized their match would later be life-saving.
Duran, 25, who suffers from lupus, would eventually need a kidney transplant for which none of her family members were a good fit, Fox 5 NY reported. But Interlicchio, 22, who had met Duran mere weeks before, offered to give the testing a shot.
Doctors’ result was familiar for the couple: “It’s a match.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The “Today” show reported that Interlicchio shared the news with Duran by modifying the Tinder notification they received when they learned they were a match on the popular dating app. The poster she made that mimicked the alert read: “You and Lori have no antibodies against each other,” with an option to either “Accept kidney” or “Stay on Waitinglist.”
“Who knew that when we both swiped right on Tinder that day, that we would be more than just girlfriends but that she would be my kidney donor! It's so funny how things work out,” Duran posted on Facebook in a video about three months ago that had been viewed more than 260,000 times as of Friday morning.
The video shows Duran opening a care package from Interlicchio— including her favorite candy, Red Vines, index cards for studying at Stony Brook University, where Duran attends school, plus a mug, lotion and socks. But at the bottom of the box, Duran finds four cards with personalized messages— and then the big reveal. Duran immediately breaks into tears of joy, saying, “Oh, my God! This is amazing. I have to call my mom!”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Now, less than a week after the transplant surgery at Stony Brook University Hospital on Long Island, New York, the women are also sporting matching scars.
It's a Match!As most of you know I was diagnosed with Lupus at the age of 12. Lupus is an autoimmune disease where my body's immune system is overactive and it starts to attack different parts of my body; thinking that my body is a foreign invader. In my case my Lupus was very active when I was younger resulting in a hip replacement, going into congestive heart failure, getting a pacemaker implanted, going into kidney failure and ultimately going on dialysis. I've been waiting patiently for a kidney since 2011. It's been 4 years and no luck yet UNTIL a little while back my wonderfully amazing girlfriend Lori Interlicchio went and got tested to see if she was a match to donate a kidney to me. It turns out she is! Who knew that when we both swiped right on Tinder that day, that we would be more than just girlfriends but that she would be my kidney donor! It's so funny how things work out. Both of us going into this relationship not expecting anything out of the ordinary. It's just so amazing to me that she was willing to get tested and now she's super excited to donate one of her kidneys to me. Lori, I love you so much and I'm so excited that we get to do this together. You're the absolute best.WATCH TILL THE VERY END! :)
Posted by Alana Duran on Friday, November 20, 2015
Fox 5 NY reported Duran is no longer on dialysis and is healing. She and Interlicchio hope their story inspires other people to donate.