When you visit Disney’s Magic Kingdom in Florida, you generally expect to get sunburn and motion sickness – not a stranger’s offer to donate a kidney.
But Max Leibowitz has finally secured a donor after decades of chronic kidney disease, and it’s thanks to a t-shirt asking a volunteer to cough up their spare organ.
Leibowitz, who visited the theme park with his family in August, wore a shirt emblazoned with the text “In Need Of Kidney O Positive Call 917-597-2651.” Fellow parkgoer Rocio Sandoval asked if she could take a snap of the decidedly unusual attire, and then posted it to Facebook.
It was there the image went boonta. Leibowitz’ son Max tells People that around 40,000 people had shared the image by the time the family boarded their plane back, leading to a torrent of genuine calls.
Among that number was Indiana resident Richie Sully, who had boarded a Greyhound bus and travelled for 14 hours to undergo a test. His results: perfect.
“I think that I am still in shock, just the fact that it is real,” Leibowitz recently told TV station WFTV 9.
Sully said he was moved to offer up the kidney because he too is a father, adding “the last thing I would want my kids to worry about every night when they go to bed is how much more time they have with me.”
The surgery is scheduled for January 18, and after it’s all sorted, both families plan to hike back to the Magic Kingdom to celebrate. Fair enough, tbqh.
