Crysti Shirley's kidney donation to a total stranger in Virginia is being called a "gift of a lifetime" as she and the recipient recover from surgery after the transplant, WSET-TV reported Tuesday.
Shirley said she "knew in her heart" that she was a match for Jim Abed, in Fairfax, Virginia, the cousin of a woman she used to work with, Maysa Munsey Slominski, the television station reported.
Shirley said she saw Slominski's post on Facebook, where her former coworker said that Abed needed a kidney transplant, but only from a type O donor, WSET-TV said.
"I did not know medically, but I knew in my heart that I was Jim's match," Shirley told the television station about Abed, who had been waiting for a kidney for two years. "The doctor said the only way we would have been a more perfect match is if we were family."
Shirley, who said she lost an uncle to heart disease after waiting for a transplant, went through the testing and had the life-saving surgery for Abed last month, according to WSET-TV.
"But if someone could have just donated that heart, a lot of people don't realize how impactful it can be," Shirley told the television station. "Jim is a part of me now. I feel like I have adopted his family. They've adopted us. I feel like the blessing is totally mine."
Slominski told Fox News that Shirley's donation was a life-changing experience.
"If it wasn't for (Crysti Shirley) I would be attending a funeral," Slominski told the network Wednesday. "She is a beautiful person.
"She felt like there was true calling, that her faith was telling her to do this. … [Abed] was very taken aback by the goodness of a complete stranger," Slominski continued.
Shirley said, though, she felt that she was the one who was "blessed" by the experience.
"I am the one who received the blessing," Shirley told Fox News. "My hope is that he can go out and live a full, beautiful life. God called me to do this; there is no thanks that's needed."
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.