SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — These three strangers are now connected through a chain reaction of kindness. They met for the first time this week. Steve Holmes came from Philadelphia, and Kate Pleatman from Ohio, to celebrate the woman who benefited from both of their kidneys.
“I'm so grateful you're here and I'm even more grateful I'm here,” said Sita Brooke.
In 2014, Sita found out her kidney was failing. She searched for a kidney donor, but none of her family members matched.
“It was for sure a desperate cry," Sita said. "I was not doing very well. Dialysis does a number on your body. It was hard.”
In a last ditch effort in 2022, Sita posted to Facebook about her struggles. Kate decided she wanted to help.
“It just felt like a calling," Kate said. "Like something I needed to do.”
Kate was not a match for Sita, but donated her kidney to someone else on Sita’s behalf, this moved Sita up the recipient list. Around that time, Steve also decided to donate, and was her match.
“It means a lot," Steve said. "I think about it everyday. It’s something that I recommend anybody who could, just to think about what it would mean.”
Sita sent Steve this letter to thank him. He reached out to her on Facebook and they agreed to meet on Tuesday along with Kate, celebrating life in every sense of the word.
“I'm blessed, this is my second life," Sita said. "The world is the world, things happen. But there’s these bright shining lights of hope and goodness. And complete and utter love.”
It’s Sita’s 50th birthday and the anniversary of her kidney surgery. She wouldn't be able to mark either milestone without these two kind strangers.
“The three of us are so far and different," Sita said. "For all of us to come together and share this thread between us, it is a power greater than I that brought us together.”
To see if you're qualified to donate, click here to go to the National Kidney Registry.
