(WSVN) - An emotional moment when a young girl in need of a kidney met her match.
Candie Barrameda underwent a kidney transplant surgery last week at Tampa General Hospital thanks to Kathryn Kochevar, but Barrameda’s journey began back in July.
“He took my blood pressure, and he’s like, ‘Your blood pressure is through the roof,'” said Barrameda. “It was like in the 200s, and he was like, ‘You need to go to the E.R.'”
After some further testing, she heard words no 25-year-old expects to hear: “You are in kidney failure.”
The race to find a donor match began as Barrameda’s boyfriend, Matthew Rexford, was by her side.
“Anyone that knows Candie knows that she is very determined, very strong-willed, independent, all the characteristics you need to get through something like this,” he said.
The two have never met but when Kochevar heard Barrameda’s story, she knew she had to help.
“I just put myself in Candie’s shoes and thought, I know I don’t know her and I don’t know if it would be weird if I offered help, but if I was in her position I would hope that somebody else would do the same thing,” said Kochevar.
Kochevar’s mother, Dawn Kochevar, said she is known for her giving nature.
“Knowing Kathryn, you know, she has a great heart. We just knew that if she wanted to do it, she was going to do it,” she said.
Kochevar discovered she was a match and would be able to make the donation of a lifetime.
“I remember sitting at a Starbucks, and I get the call, I think it was like in the afternoon, and she goes, ‘We’re a match. We’re doing this. We’re getting surgery,’ and I just, we both were crying on the phone,” recalled Kochevar.
They shared a hospital bed on the day they met and cried tears of joy. Now the two women have a bond that nothing can break.
“Time just stood still in that moment and nothing else mattered,” said Barrameda.
“You have no idea the impact you can have on anybody, whether it’s donating a kidney or giving somebody a smile,” Kochevar said. “I think we underestimate how far that can go sometimes.”
Barrameda and Kochevar later found out Valentine’s Day is also National Donor Day.
Both women said they plan to take a trip every year on their anniversary to celebrate.
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