NEWARK, Delaware (WPVI) -- The nation's longest kidney transplant chain ever, involving 34 kidneys sent between 26 different hospitals, is the subject of ABC's Nightline tonight.
Several of the donors, recipients, and hospitals are in our area.
The idea behind a transplant chain is if someone needs a kidney and a friend or family member wants to donate but is not a match, then that donor will be paired with a recipient they do match, with the understanding their friend will also get a match.
The National Kidney Registry says this chain played out over three months, spanning from San Diego to Boston.
One local recipient lives in Newark, Delaware.
Rosalie Corbett is back to her daily exercise, less then 3 months after receiving a new kidney in the nation's largest kidney swap.
"I consider myself blessed. I am lucky to be here," Rosalie told Action News.
Corbett has a genetic kidney disease.
Many in her family didn't survive past fifty.
At age 61, Corbett's kidneys deteriorated and she needed a transplant.
Her longtime friend Susan Carlson wanted to donate, however, she wasn't a match.
So Doctor John Swanson of Christiana Care says she joined what's called the Paired Donor Network.
She'd donate a kidney to a recipient she does match nationwide, and the network would find Corbett a donor.
The chain grew, and overall, led to 34 kidneys swapped between 26 hospitals nationwide.
Christiana Care was in the middle of the chain.
Doctor Swanson calls both the coordination of such an effort and the lives saved, a miracle.
"Living donation is the best hope we have for our patients and the more we can expand that, it adds significantly to the donor pool," he told Action News.
Corbett says her friend Susan is an angel on Earth.
"She's given me a new life with new possibilities," said an emotional Rosalie.
"My mother wasn't around to see my child born, most of my family is gone, but now I'm here for my daughter, my husband, my friends," she added.
It takes an incredible amount of planning and coordinating to pull something like this off.
Doctor Swanson says the donors and coordinators are true heroes.
For more information on paired donations, see the National Kidney Registry or UNOS- the United Network for Organ Sharing