Welcome to Start TODAY. Sign up for our Start TODAY newsletter to receive daily inspiration sent to your inbox — and join us on Instagram! For Elizabeth and TJ Atkinson of Houston, marriage, work and raising children filled their days — and, quickly, their years. “We were busy living our life, and not making our health a priority,” Elizabeth tells TODAY.com. After more than two decades together, Elizabeth weighed 248 pounds — one sandwich away from 250, she says.
The donors don’t have to be a close relative. They can be anyone willing and qualified to donate. After three months, the program was able to set up an exchange. Elizabeth’s kidney would go to a 65-year-old woman in Denver, and TJ would receive a kidney from a 20-year-old college student in Pittsburgh. “I was beyond thrilled. It was like our prayers had been answered, and I get to keep my husband now. It was a big deal.