GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) -- When Julie Kochevar got a divorce, she remained close to her ex-mother-in-law -- close enough to donate a kidney to her.
The 44-year-old Grand Junction woman will give 66-year-old Wanda Elsberry a kidney in an operation scheduled for late October in Denver.
Elsberry has kidney disease prompted by diabetes and high blood pressure. Without a replacement kidney, she would have to start dialysis treatments soon.
Elsberry says the waiting list for a kidney is four to five years in Colorado, and other family members who offered her an organ were not a match.
Kochevar then stepped up, and tests showed she was a good donor.
Elsberry says, "How do you tell someone thank you for that?"
Kochevar says that "pay-it-forward thing" is important to her.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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