"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." John 15:13
In an amazing act of sacrificial love, an elderly woman gave away her liver transplant to save the life of a stranger - even though it meant risking her own life.
According to USA Today, Brenda Jones, a 69-year-old great-grandmother from Dallas, Texas, had been waiting for a liver transplant for a year when she finally got the call she had been waiting for on July 18 and was rushed to Baylor University Medical Center.
However, when she arrived, she met fellow patient, 23-year-old Abigail Flores, a newlywed who had been airlifted to the hospital after her liver completely collapsed. The young woman, who was from a small town in East Texas, only had days to live if she didn't get a new liver immediately.
Upon discovering the liver was a match for both women, Jones, without hesitating, opted to put herself back on the waiting list for a liver transplant in order to save Flores' life.
"In my heart, I wouldn't have been able to live with the liver if I had let this little girl die," Jones told NBCDFW. "And I still had more time ... I would have been a very selfish person."
She added, "All I could think about was that I had more time to wait a little longer on a liver and she didn't have any time..I just knew that's what I had to do...it was common sense."
The gesture stunned doctors, who had never seen such a thing before: "The judgment behind it seemed very clear, but it still felt unorthodox nonetheless," said Dr. Greg McKenna, a Baylor Hospital surgeon.
God rewarded Jones' faithfulness: Just a few days later, doctors placed Jones back at the top of the list, and the elderly woman miraculously received a liver herself. Both women are currently recovering from their transplant surgeries in rooms across from one another.
Flores told reporters she is grateful for a second chance at life, and thanks God everyday for the generosity of a stranger.
"If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be sitting right here right now," Flores said. "It makes me feel good because my husband and I, we just got married and we want to have kids. She gave me the opportunity to be able to do that later on in life."
She added, "I thank God for her each and every day."
