Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania resident Rebekah Ceidro, 33, used to weight 218 pounds. Her busy life managing a restaurant and caring for her three-year-old son left her unconcerned with her obese body mass index (BMI).
Yet this careless lifestyle changed completely when Ceidro learned via Facebook that her friend and former colleague, Chris Moore, 30, was in need of a kidney transplant. It didn't take long for Ceidro to decide that she wanted to be the person to help.
Ceidro immediately took steps to begin the donor process.
She visited the medical team at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to begin testing for the live organ donation process. But she hit a snag. At 5 feet 7 inches tall and 213 pounds, she was too heavy to be a donor.That meant Rebekah would have to lose about 15 pounds.
ollowing a winter of running and weight training, Ceidro just completed her first half-marathon on May 7.
Instead of losing just the 15 pounds she needed to shed in order to be an eligible donor, Ceidro dropped three times that amount and ended up 40 pounds lighter.
Now, Ceidro, Moore, and their doctors are preparing both patients for the upcoming transplant surgery. They expect the transplant will be scheduled for sometime in the next three to six months.