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Man Who Saved A Woman’s Life Makes Another Heroic Deed by Donating Kidney to Stranger
- David McCartney had discovered a great purpose on life when he met a friend through a car accident: to do good for others.
- In 2019, he donated a kidney to a stranger!
- Since then, David and his son Elijah have been running to raise awareness and money to help people with kidney disease!
Who would have thought that the speeding ticket issued to David McCartney in 2006 would actually change his life forever?
On the evening of January 9, 2006, while David was running late for a meeting, he was caught speeding. Little did he know that he was stopped for a reason: to be in that place, right in front of a woman’s car that flipped into a ditch and burst into flames!
The car belonged to Elizabeth Testerman, whom David helped by calling 911 and kicking in her windshield to pull her out.
“I got to save a life,” the 37-year-old father of two said. “So, it wound up being a pretty good day.”
The incident led to a yearlong friendship between David and Elizabeth, who encouraged him to persist in doing good for other people and died in 2011.
In 2019, David remembered her late friend’s message and so he was inspired to donate his kidney to a stranger!
“This changed the whole trajectory of my life. Without divine intervention, none of this would be possible,” the philanthropist dad said, who chose to remain anonymous to the person who received his kidney.
Since then, David has realized a greater purpose in life. The Indiana dad started running 50-plus mile ultramarathons in every US state to increase awareness on becoming a living donor. He was also raising money for Team Mason, a local organization that brings awareness to kidney disease and helps send kids to Kidney Camp — a five-day summer camp for free for eight- to 18-year-old kids in Indian, who have kidney disease or have received a transplant.
David had been running with his 18-year-old son whom he “consider to be [his] best friend.” It was a great father-and-son bonding activity that brings them closer.
“We went to the track one day and just started running and training for my first 5K,” Elijah recalled. “And we just kept it going after that.”
David’s kidney-donation operation had put him to a hiatus. But when he recovered, he and Elijah went back to running, this time with a much greater purpose.
“We’re trying to get people involved in all 50 states,” David said. “We’ve got to take this platform as far as we can.”
In recent years, David and Elijah completed nearly 100 races across 16 states on behalf of Team Mason. This was able to help send dozens of kids to Kidney Camp.
“You’ve got to try to make a difference,” said Elijah, who, with his dad, hopes to run another 10 races this year.
“It’s a big undertaking,” David added. “But if the sun is shining, we’re running.”
Source: PEOPLE
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