One Eagles fan and one Chiefs fan share a kidney bond
KANSAS CITY, Miss. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Two former Marines, a Chiefs fan and Eagles fan, form an unbreakable bond after one donates a kidney to the other.
However, not all bonds form immediately.
"My first impression of him was, 'Man, this guy's mean,'" said Billy Welsh, an Eagles fan.
When Welsh and John Gladwell first met, it was during their time serving in the United States Marine Corp. more than 20 years ago.
"I was leaving. He was coming in motivated and I was just wanting to come home," said Gladwell, a Chiefs fan.
99% match
After going their separate ways, the two stayed connected through Facebook. That's how Gladwell learned that Welsh had been diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease.
"It just took over my kidneys and I put a message out on Facebook and I was like, 'Hey, anybody got a spare kidney laying around I can have,'" Welsh spoke.
Gladwell saw it, reached out and got tested. As it turns out, he was a 99% match.
"You know, you never leave a brother behind. Marines are a band of brothers, I mean there's only like a couple thousand of us as opposed to the Army, Navy, they have millions and they beat it in our heads. You don't leave someone behind," Gladwell continued.
Days before needing dialysis, Gladwell and Welsh had surgery.
"It was just small talk like 'You ready? Are you ready to do this?' And we gave a little fist bump and the rest is history," Welsh described.
An Eagles fan with a Chiefs Kingdom kidney
Fortunately, Gladwell's kidney could do what Welsh's two kidneys could not.
"It because of where the kidney come from," Gladwell concluded.
Now, the Chiefs and Eagles are meeting in the Super Bowl and Welsh, the longtime Eagles fan has a piece of Chiefs Kingdom inside of him.
"There's a battle going on in my body like, 'Does my kidney not want to work? Because if the Eagles win, it's just going to go on strike,'" Welsh joked.
It's nothing but friendly banter from here on out.
The two went from being opposites to nearly a perfect match.
