More than 100,000 Americans are currently waiting for a kidney transplant, according to the National Kidney Foundation.
About 12 people die every day waiting for a kidney that never comes.
Dr. Frank McGeorge shared the story of Terry Argosinger, an Iowa man who feared he might be one of those statistics -- until an old car gave him a new lease on life.
It all started with a 1957 Chevy that brought Argosinger and mechanic Cory Tiefenthaler together.
Neither knew where that chance meeting would lead, but now the two share far more than a love of classic cars.
"My doctor told me that my kidneys had just decided to shut down faster than normal," said Argosinger.
The diagnosis landed him on the kidney transplant list, but after three years of waiting, his situation became dire.
"A friend of mine died in 2021, who started work on this car. His family sold me the car so I could finish it in his honor. I give Bob, my friend from heaven, credit for putting me in front of Cory. That's how I found him," Argosinger said.
As Argosinger's health declined, Tiefenthaler made an impulsive offer.
"He came in that day and said they had kind of really started to take a turn for the worse. I just said, 'Well, if it ever comes down to it, I would be willing to offer a kidney if he needed it,'" said Tiefenthaler.
"I had to go home and think about that. He is a 45-year-old man with a wife and three little kids. That was not an easy decision," Argosinger said.
Tiefenthaler wasn't a direct match, so he donated a kidney on Argosinger's behalf through a national kidney exchange chain.
"I went into the hospital on a Wednesday for the surgery, and I was out on Friday. Within that next week, I personally felt good enough to be out and about and doing a lot of different things," Tiefenthaler said.
For Argosinger, the transplant has been a new lease on life.
"From the first day out of surgery, second day especially after anesthesia, I knew I felt better," Argosinger said.
He's now embracing a freedom he thought he'd lost forever.
"I've covered 5,000 miles in the last three weeks just doing things that I was backed up to do. I'm just full steam ahead," Argosinger said.