Mom inspired to donate kidney to stranger she met in her Arizona neighborhood
By Jason Barry
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CASA GRANDE, Arizona (KPHO, KTVK) — Nino Di Giulio needs a kidney. But instead of waiting years for a match through the national donor database, he put an ad up on his truck.
“A lot of people sending me emails saying they wanted to help me,” Di Giulio said. “I was surprised. I thought I’d get a couple, but nothing like what I got. I even got an email from South Africa.”
Unfortunately, none of the kind-hearted people who reached out to the Mesa dad panned out. Then one day as Di Giulio was parked in a Casa Grande neighborhood, a woman who lives nearby knocked on his window and asked if he still needed a kidney. That woman was Renee Black.
“I was walking the dog one day, and I walked by and saw his truck,” Black recalled. “I just read the sticker and I thought, oh my God, how sad. He’s in need.”
Black and Di Giulio spent a couple of hours talking and quickly became friends. Soon after, the 48-year-old mom was making countless trips to Phoenix, meeting with doctors and going through an assortment of tests. She was a perfect match to donate one of her kidneys to the random stranger she just met.
“If I can do something to help another human being, I feel like I should,” Black said. “I have two working, functioning kidneys and he needs one. So why wouldn’t I give him one of mine?”
“In this world, the news is always so negative, and things are going so bad,” Di Giulio said. “It just proves that there are good people out there willing to help someone else; a stranger.”
The kidney transplant was supposed to happen several months ago, but Di Giulio has had some health issues that put things on hold. But the delay did not change Black’s mind, whose family and faith have reaffirmed her decision to give the gift of life.
And what better time to do it than right after the holidays? The transplant surgery is scheduled for Jan. 3. Both are hoping their story will inspire others to consider organ donation
“There are so many things we as human beings can do for others,” Black said. “It may not be giving a kidney, but you can give your time, give love, give advice. I just think people should know that there is hope out there for them, too.”
“She truly is a gift,” Di Guilio said. “I am blessed. It gives me a second chance at life.”
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