West Springfield woman gets life-altering gift

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Months after a West Springfield woman received a new kidney; she met the young stranger who gave her a normal life again.

Elizabeth Bloomberg explained, “He actually gave me the gift of a new life

Elizabeth had been going through dialysis for more than a year, three days a week, four hours a day.

All of her three daughters wanted to be donors but after blood work was done they found none of them was a match, but her daughter Stacey wasn't giving up.

"She wasn't really herself and I just wanted her to get better," said Stacey.

She chose to donate anyway and by doing so guaranteed her mother would get a kidney from someone else.

"My mom needed one, she needed one," she said through tears.

At just 25 years old, Gregory Madan had one he was willing to give.

He told 22News, “I've lived a happy, healthy life and it just seemed like a nice thing to do."

Although Gregory and Elizabeth may have little in common overall; in this case, they were a perfect match and in October of 2012 they both underwent successful surgeries.

Elizabeth said, "It was just so unbelievable that someone that I didn't know would just up and give a kidney because he wanted to help someone that was less fortunate." 

After they finally met at Baystate Medical Center, Madan said, “It's great to see that she's perfectly healthy now and you see the tangible impact that you've given someone else.”

Stacey hasn't heard from the person she donated her kidney to, but she told 22News seeing her mother well is all that matters.