New York man getting kidney via Internet

NEW YORK, June 11 (UPI) -- A New York man says a complete stranger is set to donate a kidney to him and give him a new lease on life.

Anthony Cottman of New York's Brooklyn borough said Pittsburgh resident Nancy Murrell is a "special person" for agreeing to donate her kidney to a stranger in desperate need for one, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.

"It feels as though we've known each other in some other lifetime," Cottman, 45, said of Murrell, 47.

"I think she is special and unique. It takes a special person to do this."

Murrell said she learned of Cottman, who needs a kidney as a result of chronic anemia, through Chaya Lipschutz, a prior kidney donor who created the Web site, KidneyDonor-KidneyMatchmaker.com.

Medical tests showed Cottman and Murrell were a tissue match and the two will meet face-to-face for the first time just before their June 25 operation.

Murrell said she is suprised she's not nervous about her decision. She expressed enthusiasm regarding the donation process.

"It's for Anthony, and to make the world a better place, but it's also just really, really interesting," she told the Daily News. "It's an adventure."