Lori Interlicchio recently surprised her girlfriend of two months, Alana Duran, with a big box of candy, Star Wars memorabilia, and other goodies. A standard girlfriend good deed, right?
But Duran had no clue that at the bottom of the box was the biggest surprise yet — a printed "it's a match" sign with the news that Interlicchio was going to be her much-needed kidney donor.
Duran was diagnosed with lupus at the age of 12, and has been waiting for a kidney donor since 2011. Nobody in her family was a match.
The printed card was fitting, considering the couple originally met on Tinder.
"A few dates [after meeting] we were talking about how long it takes to get a kidney in New York, and I learned we shared a blood type and decided to get tested," Interlicchio told BuzzFeed News. "We didn't actually start 'officially dating' until she was helping me fill out my donor history information to get tested. I got embarrassed because she saw that I put 'girlfriend' as my relationship to the recipient, but she happily agreed to be my girlfriend."
Interlicchio decided to not tell Duran the good news right away after she received the phone call informing her they had a match.
"I made a million and one excuses for why I hadn't found out the results yet, and I proceeded to have all of the other tests done secretly," Interlicchio said. Those other tests included a CAT scan, lab work, and a complete physical.
Interlicchio decided to surprise her girlfriend with the big news through the box, and caught the whole thing on video.
She said that her "heart was racing" as Duran slowly made her way through the box.
"I wanted her to hurry up and get to the bottom, but she was so appreciative of every single item I bought," she said. "She talked about the Star Wars bandaids for like 20 seconds."
Duran said she had no clue what was about to happen.
"I really just thought it was a nice, thoughtful gesture," she said, "and I was really enjoying seeing what was inside and loving the candy and knick-knacks she put in for me."
When Duran finally reached the bottom she found some cards with phrases like, "Tattoos are cool, but I'd rather get matching scars." In the video, she seems confused until she spots the sign.
Duran said she "really couldn't believe it" when she learned her girlfriend was a match.
"It was really unbelievable and rather shocking that this woman in front of me, a perfect stranger I had met on Tinder, someone I love, was a match for me in more ways than one," she said.
Duran later posted the video to her Facebook page, along with some background on her life-long battle with lupus:
As most of you know I was diagnosed with Lupus at the age of 12. Lupus is an autoimmune disease where my body's immune system is overactive and it starts to attack different parts of my body; thinking that my body is a foreign invader. In my case my Lupus was very active when I was younger resulting in a hip replacement, going into congestive heart failure, getting a pacemaker implanted, going into kidney failure and ultimately going on dialysis. I've been waiting patiently for a kidney since 2011. It's been 4 years and no luck yet UNTIL a little while back my wonderfully amazing girlfriend Lori Interlicchio went and got tested to see if she was a match to donate a kidney to me. It turns out she is! Who knew that when we both swiped right on Tinder that day, that we would be more than just girlfriends but that she would be my kidney donor! It's so funny how things work out. Both of us going into this relationship not expecting anything out of the ordinary. It's just so amazing to me that she was willing to get tested and now she's super excited to donate one of her kidneys to me. Lori, I love you so much and I'm so excited that we get to do this together. You're the absolute best.
Interlicchio said that the outpouring of love and support since the video was posted has been amazing.
The couple plans on scheduling surgery for this February.
