Two couples celebrated an early thanksgiving in New York City with much to be grateful for.
Once strangers, they're now forever connected, after exchanging priceless gifts.
They swapped kidneys.
The Bronx couple and the one from Clayton, New Jersey finally met face-to-face Tuesday.
The kidney swappers broke bread together with their families at the Montefiore Medical Center.
Tamira Ferrer's husband Carlos gave his kidney to Marta Chiqito.
Her husband Moises gave his kidney to Tamira.
Neither spouse was a match for his own wife and their respective hospitals put them on a registry for kidney hopefuls looking for a swap.
"They told us fast the news and I told her to go for it. Let's go for it, because, it was happy, it was a joyful moment for me," said kidney donor Moises Chiqito.
"To know that there was going to be two people that were going to be able to receive a donation at you know, a donor, and there was going to be two lives that were going to be changed so I guess it just happened miraculously. That's it," said recipient Marta Chiqito.
"And I didn't know if I would have to go back on the waiting list for 5 years. 'That was very frightening?' yes, it was, because I was, I was not doing well and it was getting worse," recipient Tamira Ferrer.
"There was an opportunity for us to kind of do a kidney swap and we just took it. It was great, it was - just everything just worked out you know, just surpassingly it just like and like wow now I�m here," said Carlos Ferrer who donated a kidney.
Doctors say there are many advantages to having a living donor.
The kidney is healthier and will last twice as long improving the chances of success and a full recovery.
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