ANDERSON, S.C., Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A South Carolina man who carried a sign for a year seeking a kidney for his wife also found donors for more than 100 other people, a hospital says.
Larry Swilling, 78, walked the streets of Anderson, a city of 26,000 in the central part of the state, for a year with his sandwich board, ABC News reported Saturday. His sign had a simple message followed by his telephone number: "Need kidney 4 wife."
Sarah Parker, coordinator of organ donations at the Medical University of South Carolina, told ABC Jimmie Sue Swilling, 76, will get a new kidney next Wednesday. But she said publicity about Swillings' quest has benefited many more people.
Parker estimates 125 donors have come forward willing to give up kidneys even to people they do not know. She said MUSC got about 2,000 phone calls in a year generated by Swilling's sign.
Swilling would not comment on his search for a kidney for his wife. His voicemail gives callers the number to dial at MUSC if they are interested in donations.
