In 2017, a woman named Sue Reale from Oakland, CA shared a remarkable story with Petco's Holiday Wishes campaign. It won the 2017 Holiday Wishes award for Friends of Oakland Animal Services, from whom Sue had recently adopted a puppy named Kuro.
Sue said it had long been her intention to adopt, but severe kidney disease and the immediate need for a transplant previously held her back. Thanks to her sister and a Facebook campaign, though, a stranger not only agreed to get tested, but donated her kidney to Sue when she proved a match. Sue had the operation in January 2017 and it was a success!
As she recovered, Sue surfed social media and discovered the Oakland Animal Services Facebook page. There, she found a sad story about two puppies, littermates, named Kuro and Yin Yang. Both puppies had parvovirus, a very dangerous and contagious disease. Friends of Oakland Animal Services was willing to pay for the puppies' treatment (at $2500 each), but only if someone adopted them afterward.
Sue, who was in quarantine while on immunosuppressant drugs, felt an immediate affinity for Kuro, who was in isolation for parvovirus. She adopted him and renamed him Chipper, due to his personality.
But there's another twist to the story – the donor who saved Sue fell in love with Yin Yang and adopted him, renaming him Archie. It even turned out that the puppies were born the same day as the transplant operation – January 12.
Both women have since retold their inspirational story to help both abandoned animals and transplant patients.