A perfect match in Waterford; wife will be husband's kidney donor

WATERFORD, Mich. (FOX 2) - Mary and Tom Linsenmeyer are a perfect match in love and life.

"We were each other's first boyfriend and girlfriend and we had a storybook romance for about a year… until we didn't," Mary said.

"She dropped me like a hot potato," Tom said.

Their meaning to each other wasn't evident as teenagers. Not even as young adults when they decided to give their love another chance a few years later.

"At the time I still wasn't mature enough," Tom said.

They parted ways, married others, had children and grandchildren, and eventually split up with their spouses. It would be two decades until Tom and Mary would cross paths again.

"I was sitting there one day, and all of a sudden I was on Facebook for whatever reason and I friended him. He had absolutely nothing on his profile page, so I friended him," Mary said. "About 10 seconds later he replied back, and then it was like we never spent a second apart."

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The third time was the charm for the Linsenmeyers. They married in 2016 and have been living their best lives with both loving families… until 2021.

Tom was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney failure caused by a genetic arterial disease.

"He said sorry I wish I had better news but the only thing that works for this is a transplant," Tom said.

"We said when do we do that," Mary said.

"He said it's more complicated than that," Tom said.

It wasn't for Mary. She knew from the start that she would be Tom's kidney donor.

"He patted my head like that's nice you want to donate, but it is not going to happen," Mary said. "I said I am a match so let's get started. I was not only a match, I was a perfect match."

Mary will be Tom's living donor. The transplant surgery is scheduled for October 28.

"She is not only my best friend and my wife… she is my hero for what she is doing," Tom said.

A perfect match in love and life… and they hope for a successful surgery for decades to come.

"I think we were brought together to compliment each other and save each other and that's what we have done," Mary said.

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