An American Delta Air Lines frequent flyer, a man suffering from diabetes and in need of a kidney transplant, faced the daunting prospect of waiting for years on a transplant list, risking being deemed ineligible due to advancing age. However, his luck changed when a part-time customer service representative at the airline learned about his condition and volunteered to donate a kidney to him. After a successful transplant surgery, everything went smoothly for him.
According to CNN, the 74-year-old man named Bruce Gamble, a car dealership consultant from Birmingham, Alabama, frequently traveled to various car dealerships across the country and had become a regular with Delta Air Lines.
Gamble found out in 2022 that his kidney function was declining due to type 2 diabetes, necessitating a transplant. Based on his blood type, the wait for a donor organ could be 3 to 5 years, during which time he might become unfit for surgery due to his age. Consequently, he often shared his need for a kidney donation with others.
Information from the National Kidney Foundation in the United States indicates that the timing of organ donation depends on various factors, including the duration of dialysis, waiting time for a transplant, blood type, patient’s location, and their antibody levels.
A 57-year-old customer service agent named Jill Hickey at Delta Air Lines, who frequently saw Gamble at the airport, overheard coworkers discussing Gamble’s situation one evening. She then decided to undergo a kidney transplant compatibility test with another coworker.
When Hickey shared her plan with her family, her husband and two daughters raised concerns, with one daughter even crying out of fear of potential complications post-surgery. Eventually, her family came to understand her reasons for wanting to help.
It turns out, Hickey works as a teacher for gifted children at a primary school during the day. Her experiences with students in need of organ donations during her teaching career ignited her desire to assist those in similar situations. If her health allowed it, she was willing to donate organs to those in need.
The National Kidney Foundation notes that kidneys donated by living donors are more likely to be immediately effective and have a longer lifespan compared to kidneys from deceased donors. The average lifespan of a kidney from a living donor is 15 to 20 years, while that from a deceased donor is 7 to 10 years.
Gamble expressed shock upon learning of Hickey’s willingness to donate a kidney to him. Hickey’s transplant compatibility test was successful. Over a period of more than 2 years, 11 people were willing to donate a kidney to Gamble and underwent matching tests, but only the 11th person, Hickey, met the criteria. Her kidney was a match for Gamble.
In December 2024, Gamble and Hickey underwent kidney transplant surgery in Birmingham. During the operation, doctors found issues with the blood vessels surrounding Hickey’s kidney, which could potentially lead to more health problems. This prolonged the surgery, but everything still went smoothly.
Several months after the kidney transplant, Gamble and Hickey traveled to California with their spouses. Gamble thanked God for bringing Hickey into his life at that moment, saying, “She has extended my life, and I’ve told her many times.”
Gamble is now “semi-retired,” occasionally flying with Delta Air Lines, while Hickey continues teaching during the day and working as a customer service agent at night. In some ways, life has returned to how it was before, but in one aspect, everything has changed forever.
Hickey remarked, “We started as strangers, but now we feel more like family.”
Due to her act of donating a kidney to Gamble, Hickey received recognition from Delta Air Lines this year.