Kellye Miller and Morgan Johnson

It was late 2005 when a new friend offered Morgan Johnson the one thing she needed most: a kidney.

Morgan met her friend Kellye Miller during a break in between communications classes at Kean University. As they grew to be close friends, the 24-year-old Kellye learned that Morgan, at age 23, was suffering from a life-threatening kidney disease requiring a strict diet and medication regimen. When she heard that all of Morgan's immediate family members were not suitable kidney donors, Kellye offered her friend the ultimate gift: the gift of life.

They had only met five months earlier, and at first Morgan couldn't accept Kellye's self-less offer. As time progressed, Morgan's condition took a turn for the worst. Her vision was deteriorating and her blood-pressure levels were life-threatening. She was one of 60,000 people waiting for a kidney in the U.S., and her next option was daily dialysis treatments sometimes lasting nine hours. Kellye, who had been interning at NJ Sharing Network and completed a project for her health communication class on organ donation, offered again to be tested again, and her kidney was a match. After much thought, Morgan accepted.

Soon after doctors at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J. completed the transplant surgery, Morgan's new kidney was in working condition, and Kellye was recuperating. The girls visited each other in their hospital rooms and kept in good spirits as they recovered together. Both are doing well and the experience has brought them closer than ever. They continue to share their story so that others can see the profound bond that organ donation has had on their lives.