How to save a life (x2)

Six years ago, paramedic Kristi Hadfield saved John Cunningham's life. 

The loving father had gone into cardiac arrest. And when Kristi found herself riding in the back of the ambulance with him, she did everything she could to keep him hanging on – including restarting his heart with CPR when it stopped beating. "Not today, John," Kristi recalled saying, channeling Arya Stark. "Not today."

Thankfully, John made a full recovery from the incident, and the pair have kept in touch via social media ever since.

John's daughter, Molly Jones, also friend-requested Kristi after his medical scare. “We live in a very small town," she shared. "I wanted to know who saved my dad." 

It wasn't until a few years later, however, when Molly posted on Facebook asking for help, that Kristi would have another opportunity to save a life. 

The story: Molly was experiencing kidney failure and desperately needed a transplant. 

The 42-year-old mom was working full-time, coaching her daughter's soccer team, and living an all-around healthy lifestyle when she was told her kidneys were failing. Dialysis would buy her some time – but a transplant could save her life.

Within hours of Molly posting about her need for a donor, Kristi responded and asked how to find out if she was a match. Turns out, the women were the same blood type. 

• Fast-forward a few months, and Kristi officially donated one of her kidneys to Molly, saving her life and buying her more time with her young daughter and Dad – whom Kristi had saved six years earlier.

❤️ Bottom line: Molly and Kristi hope their story inspires other people to consider organ donation. 

• “Please don’t take your organs to heaven,” Molly wrote on Facebook. “Heaven knows we need them here! Kristi, I love you forever for saving my life!”
• "I'm glad to have her in my heart and I'm glad if somebody had my kidney, she's the one that has it," Kristi said. “I don’t see it as anything brave – just what we should do."