They've shared the gift of life - donating kidneys to each other.
The Kulscar and Marcano families talked about their "paired exchange" today - the first ever at Lehigh Valley Hospital.
37 years ago, Frank Kulscar received a kidney from his father.
When it began to fail, his wife Carlene offered to donate, but she wasn't a match.
Through the internet, she learned about paired exchanges -
Through the hospital, she learned she WAS a match for 55-year-old Elizabeth Marcano,And that Elizabeth's 20-year-old daughter Elise was a match for Frank.
Today, he thanked the Mercanos, and his wife.
"I can't say enough good things about my wife, for both volunteering to donate a kidney, and also being relentless for her pursuit of looking at the paired network," he said.
Elizabeth - whose diabetes has left her blind, said she didn't believe her daughter at first, that a stranger would donate to her.
Tearfully, she told reporters, "She told me, yeah, Mommy, i found someone to give a kidney to you."
Elise is grateful her mother no longer needs dialysis, and that she got the chance to help someone else.
"That was more extra special, because i would never want someone else's family to go what we went through." She paused, choking back tears, then said., "There were some days i thought she was going to give up."
"Paired kidney exchanges clearly are extremely beneficial, as the value of every transplantable kidney is immense and growing," said transplant chief Dr. Michael Moritz says.
"Not only is the average wait time for a kidney climbing—it's currently 33 months at LVHN, compared to more than seven years in New York City—but the average donor age is rising and kidneys from living donors are better than those from deceased donors."
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Lehigh Valley Hospital's first kidney transplant.
