A California man received a life-saving transplant thanks to the help of his best friend and someone he had never met until now.
Cory Slater and Curtis Choe are both married fathers of three children. The two met in seventh grade and quickly became an inseparable duo, with a love for sports and music.
They ended up on different sides of the world. Choe is in San Diego and Slater is in Japan.
For most of his life, Choe struggled with kidney problems. In 2020, he received the news that he needed a kidney transplant. He remained positive while he waited, but was concerned about his family.
“What’s going to happen if I don’t make it, you know, how, how are they going to move on and what are they going to do without a father? That was really what gave me the most fear and anxiety,” Choe said.
According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, there are more than 103,000 people on the national transplant waiting list. As of March 2024, more than 89,000 of those on the list will need a kidney transplant.
When he heard his lifelong friend’s prognosis, Slater decided to donate a kidney to Choe.
“There was no hesitation when it’s someone who’s your best friend,” Slater said. “I didn’t have to think too much.”
However, Slater was no match, but there was still hope.
Slater was asked if he would like to participate in a program for the National Kidney Registry. In the program he would donate a kidney to a stranger with whom he had a match. In return, Choe would be given priority in finding his own match.
Slater didn’t hesitate. He gave his kidney to a stranger, and Choe received a new kidney from Kathi Anderson, an Iowa nurse and mother of three.
CBS Mornings chief correspondent David Begnaud spoke with Slater and Choe after the transplant at the CBS Mornings studio in Times Square.
The two reflected on how it has changed their already close relationship.
“Everything that happens in my life from now on. Um, you’re a part of it, you know, just like all the memories that I share with my family, all the experiences that I have with my wife and that’s all because of Cory and that you can’t really say to anyone,” Choe said. “An overwhelming feeling of gratitude and love and you know, anything you ever need in life, I’m here for you.”
Choe, who never met Anderson, called her “another angel on earth.”
“Another beautiful person, just willing to sacrifice something for someone else, selfless,” Choe told Begnaud.
That’s when Begnaud surprised the two friends. Anderson traveled to New York City from Iowa to meet them.
“Thank you for saving my friend,” Slater told her as she came out.
“Like you said, a gift you give gives you so much more. So I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed,” Anderson said.
Anderson donated her kidney to help a child in her community.
“He was a child born with a birth defect, [and] was immediately hospitalized. They didn’t think he would survive. His family is very involved with the Children’s Hospital and raising money. That’s where I work,” she said. “I saw his mother’s Facebook post saying, ‘He really needs a kidney. Is anyone interested in researching the living kidney donor program?
She said she had no hesitation in her decision.
“I had a kidney to share, so why not?” she added.
For Choe, who celebrated his 40th birthday on the day of the interview, it was a moment he will always remember.
“I mean, two of the most important people in my entire life here,” Choe said. ‘Very grateful. Thank you for bringing us all together.”
These three people are now forever connected by paying forward the gift of life.
“If I can take that gift and spread it to other people, I think that’s what I was meant to do with this gift of life,” Choe said.
David Begnaud
