COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Pennsylvania woman was driving to work one morning when she saw something that would change her life and the life of an Ohio man forever. 

Danielle Plunkett, 28, was caught in traffic on the Pennsylvania turnpike when she saw the words, “Dad Needs a Kidney” on a billboard.

“Usually, I’m going so fast on the turnpike that I don’t look at billboards,” said Plunkett. "That morning, there was traffic, so I looked over and I saw these four beautiful kids on this billboard.” 

She went to the website listed on the display and entered her information, not realizing her life was about to change.

“I kind of figured, ‘I did my good deed for the week, I’ll never hear back from them,’” she said. “Then I heard back from them the next day.”

Mark Friedman was diagnosed with kidney disease 20 years ago and was only recently put on dialysis. 

“As soon as I found out that my numbers were taking a nose dive and I was absolutely going to need a transplant, without me even asking, my brother, Josh, took action,” said Friedman.

Josh works in marketing and got the billboards up in several states. Ohio State University Surgical Director of Kidney and Pancreas Transplants Dr. Amer Rajab was the surgeon for the pair. He said he’s been working for 20 years and no transplant story ever fails to amaze him.

“Really, when I met this beautiful young lady who drove 7-and-a-half hours all the way from Pennsylvania, she and her husband, to give a kidney to a needy patient, when she told me the story, of course, even I was surprised,” said Rajab.

Danielle and Mark are just more than two weeks post-surgery, and both are recovering well.

“Words can’t possibly describe,” said Friedman. “I mean, she’s an absolute angel. She’s a hero.”

To learn more about being a kidney donor, visit the Wexner Medical Center transplant page.

Sept. 20 Editor's Note: The original story misspelled Danielle Plunkett's name and has been corrected. We regret this error.