Facebook aims to keep you connected to your friends, even faux ones. In this case the social networking site connected two complete strangers to each other, and may have saved a girl’e life in the process.
Donette Warren used the popular social networking site Facebook, to find a donor for her daughter, ten-year-old Vivica Loyd, who has been ill most of her life. Born with six holes in her heart, Loyd has had five strokes and over forty surgeries.
Donette Warren was searching on Facebook for a solution. She said,
“I was posting on Facebook all day. I was posting the message to help my daughter and [asking] to please repost.”
Cathy Olsen saw a post on a friends’ Facebook wall. After asking the opinion of her family, Olsen was tested and determined a match.
“I couldn’t sit around and watch a girl die, that I knew I was a match for. I don’t feel like a hero, but it feels great.”
Vivica had been undergoing dialysis treatment for three years.
It’s not the first time a kidney match was facilitated by Facebook. Earlier, Sarah Taylor, Carlos Sanchez, and John Burge all had transplants with a Facebook connection.
There are a number of organ donor related groups on Facebook, including the NHS Organ Donor Campaign and the Gift of Life group.