Kidney donor travels cross-country

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Life is about to change dramatically for a South Hadley woman who's had serious kidney disease for two years. Next week, she will receive a new lease on life.

Forty-year-old Julie Gentile's been undergoing four-hour dialysis treatments in West Springfield three days a week since August. Before that, she had been on all-night 10-hour dialysis treatments at home.

She's been on the list for a donor-kidney for almost two years, and this past fall, her prayers were answered from the West Coast. She told 22News that she can't wait for her life to return to normal.

"It will be nice to be a mom and a wife again. Instead of having to be a patient first," said Gentile. Thursday on 22News, we'll tell you the story of how Kurt Wiesel discovered how he and Julie were a genetic match, and why he's so enthusiastic about the surgery to give Julie one of his kidneys.

Click here for more information on kidney donations and how to be a living kidney donor.