Moments after learning stranger needs kidney transplant, nurse steps up as donor

A nurse holding a stethoscope. — (Image credit: iStock)

Lisa Schumacher knew nothing about Pam Cassidy when she decided to donate a kidney to her.

Schumacher is a labor and delivery nurse at Edward Hospital in Naperville, Illinois. In February, she walked into a room where Dr. Brett Cassidy was talking to two nurses about his wife's kidney, which was failing. She was in desperate need of a transplant, he said, and then and there, Schumacher announced she'd be the person to help. "I wanted to do it," Schumacher told The Courier-News. "It was a time in my life to do something for somebody."

Cassidy has IgA nephropathy, an autoimmune disease that can cause end-stage kidney failure. She had a kidney transplant in 2012, but when that kidney began to fail, she had to go on dialysis, and another transplant became her only option. The transplant instantly bonded Schumacher and Cassidy, and they soon discovered how many things they have in common — both are about the same age and have teen children, and before Cassidy got married, she was also a labor and delivery nurse. Schumacher is "special," Cassidy said, and both feel if sharing their experience will "get one person to donate a kidney ... then it is worth it."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.