DALLAS - Many men wouldn't admit it. But Jonathan Woodlief openly says he owes a lot to the women in his life.
"I'm a lucky man," Woodlief said with a laugh. "I'm really grateful."
As a child, lupus destroyed his kidneys.
At 18, Woodlief received a transplant from his mother. Last year, that kidney started failing.
Doctors told him antibodies from his mom's kidney, along with blood transfusions, made it nearly impossible to find a match this time.
"So my antibodies are about 99 percent, which means that I match to about one percent of the population," Woodlief said. "That was definitely... just heartbreaking to hear."
But Woodlief married anyway in October.
"Just honestly, in my heart, I knew he would've done the same for me," Caitlin Woodlief said. "And I was in love and I loved him. And that didn't change anything."
Jonathan's health declined.
And then came medical news as unlikely as a lightning strike.
"I said, 'I'm a match!'" Caitlin recalled. "And his face said, 'You're the match?' And I'm like, 'Yes!'"
"The doctor called it a miracle," Jonathan said. "We believe it's a miracle, and we're grateful for that."
About 10 percent of kidney transplants are re-transplants. Many people who need a second organ die waiting for one.
Instead, Caitlin and Jonathan Woodlief - married just eight months - will begin life again together Tuesday, when Caitlin gives her husband the gift of life.
E-mail jstjames@wfaa.com
