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Craigslist ad helps California man find kidney donor

A Craigslist ad led to a connection between an Oakland man who needed a kidney transplant and a donor.

A California man desperate for a kidney donor found one through a Craigslist ad he posted, KTVU reported.

David Nicherie, 29, was suffering from kidney failure and hospice care was looming as an option. In a last-ditch effort, the Oakland resident posted an ad on Craigslist looking for a donor.

“I was not in a good frame of mind. Dialysis was tough and was getting tougher. It was just hard,’’ Nicherie told KTVU. “I was depressed. I was sad all the time and then I heard from her.”

Jessica Morris, a surgical nurse at a plastic surgery center, had seriously considered donating one of her kidneys, but she was looking for the right situation.

“I wanted someone who was going to be able to tell me their life struggles, what they went through and how it was going to change them,” Morris told KTVU. “Also, I wanted it to go to someone who needed it the most,’’ she said.

When Morris saw Nicherie’s Craigslist ad on her Facebook page, she emailed him.

“I knew there was someone in desperate need of a kidney if they are posting on the internet,’’ she said.

In their ensuing conversations, Nicherie and Morris found they had several interests in common, including being born at the same hospital in Newport Beach, California.

“I just saw it as signs that this was meant to be,’’ Nicherie told KTVU. “I couldn’t have planned it better. I couldn’t have written it better myself.”

Tuesday, after more than six months of preparation and tests, Morris donated her kidney to Nicherie.

“I just got lucky that she was that amazing and that she was willing to give me such a gift,’’ Nicherie told KTVU. “I’m just ready to end one journey and start another one.”

Because the internet brought them together, the two have united to help others find donors online, launching a website, findakidneydonor.