What's amazing is, prior to this, de la Vega and Coyne were just friendly strangers who regularly exchanged pleasantries at the supermarket checkout line.
Dan Coyne asked his favorite Jewel-Osco cashier, Myra de la Vega, if everything was all right. She didn't look well.More here: Dan Coyne, Kidney Donor: Giving Kidney To His Favorite Jewel-Osco Cashier. What kind of person gives his kidney to a complete stranger in need, with no fear? They're out there. In Chicago, apparently.
When he heard her story -- renal failure, dialysis eight hours a night, constant exhaustion -- he made a decision. He would give her one of his kidneys.
This decision happened two years ago, when, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, de la Vega was unsure how serious she was and still hoping her sister would be a good match. But she wasn't; Coyne, a 52-year-old school social worker, was.
So this Friday, they're heading to the operating room together, one man and his favorite smiling grocery-store cashier.