Kidney in Common

It's a Miracle 2: More Inspiring True Stories Based on the PAX TV Series, It's A Miracle
by Richard Thomas

(Page 2 of 2)

Teresa Dravk is a native of York, Pennsylvania. For most of her life, she has suffered from serious heart and kidney problems that have kept her housebound. But in 1997, Teresa discovered the Internet - and it was about to open a whole new world for her.

"I was on there to make friends and to have somebody to talk to," says Teresa. "I wasn't looking for love on the computer - that wasn't something that ever crossed my mind."

Teresa wanted to learn more about life in foreign countries and so, one day, she signed on to a chat room that connected her with people using the Web in Britain. Thousands of miles away in Manchester, England, Ian Fleming discovered the same on-line site, and he and Teresa started a private chat.

Teresa remembers, "It was the next day when I logged on, and there was this message from the same man - and he had a bunch of questions for me."

"I sent an E-mail to Teresa," Ian recalls, "and it said, 'I like doing my cycling and reading. What do you like doing?' because it was the first person I have ever spoken to on the computer really. She kept it interesting, kept it fun, and explained a lot about her life to me."

The two strangers continued sending each other messages daily.

"And then we found out we had a lot in common, and it just went from there, as far as chatting," says Teresa.

Ian adds, "And it was basically every time I came home from work and did my cycling and walked the dogs, I came in and hoped there was a message from Teresa. I honestly don't know at what point it turned into a romance. It happened and I was glad it happened."

"This was about the time I was starting to get sick with a heart problem," says Teresa.

Teresa's condition was serious and she was immediately scheduled for emergency heart surgery. On the day of the operation, Ian called her at the hospital.

"Well, I told him what was going on and he was very concerned.... I was very scared. You know, at the idea of them doing surgery where they were actually going to stop my heart and open me up."

Ian remembers the conversation. He told Teresa, "Well, I was thinking ... I've got time at work that I can take off. Do you want me to come over and visit you? We can spend a couple of weeks together over the holidays."

Teresa was pleasantly surprised. "I said, 'Okay, if you're sure. I'd love to see you.' And every time I heard his voice, it was almost like taking a painkiller. I felt so much better just talking to him."

Teresa's operation was a success. And in December she found herself at the airport, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the man she'd met on the Internet just three months before.

"Teresa walked out into the middle of the crowd and gave me a big hug, and our first kiss. And honestly, from that moment on, I was hooked.... This was the one for me," Ian says.

Teresa recalls, "We just found ourselves connecting more and more on not just superficial subjects like favorite things, but on life issues."

And eleven days later, Ian proposed. Because of Teresa's medical condition, they decided to live in the United States. But before Ian flew home to prepare for the move, they went shopping for an engagement ring. The ring that Teresa chose would have to be resized and would not be ready before Ian's scheduled flight.

On January 6, the young couple said their good-byes. It would be several months before they would see each other again, and during that time, Teresa would become deathly ill. A tumor was discovered on her kidney.

Her doctor, Michael J. Moritz, was extremely concerned. "Teresa has a rather long medical history as relates to her kidney problems, and she underwent her first kidney transplant in the 1980s, which lasted for quite a while, but ultimately did develop chronic rejection."

The only option now was to remove both her kidneys. Ironically, the day that Teresa was scheduled for the operation was the same day that Ian returned to start their new life together. He had picked up the engagement ring before coming to the hospital, and he took this moment to slip it on the finger of the woman he loved - a woman who might not live much longer if she didn't find a kidney donor.

Teresa remembers, "First, just having him back again after four months, and then to have him put the ring on, knowing what I was going through the next day ... it was a very, very emotional moment."

Ian wanted to be tested as a donor, but Teresa warned him of the difficulties. She told him, "You know, it's very hard on the donor. And I don't know if I want you to go through that pain."

Ian reasoned, "We're going to be together the rest of our lives, and I'm going to be in pain for only a couple of months, right? At least it will improve the quality of our lives."

Teresa had her doubts. "I really didn't think there was a chance he was going to be a match. I thought we'd go ahead, do the blood test, and that would be it, you know. They'd say, 'Well, I'm sorry, but you're not a match,' and that would be all there was to it."

Says Dr. Moritz, "As you'd expect, for any two unrelated human beings, the odds of being a perfect match in their tissue type is one in three million."

But miraculously, the tests came back positive. They had beaten the incredible odds. Ian was that one person in three million.

On September 19, 1998, Teresa and Ian were married. Their dual surgeries were scheduled two months away. On the morning of November 10, the newlyweds were being simultaneously prepped for transplant surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.

Copyright © 2003 by Selected and introduced by Richard Thomas.