SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — An Ameren Illinois employee who was honored by his bosses and co-workers in Springfield for donating a kidney to a stranger has gotten to meet the recipient.
The State Journal-Register reports 42-year-old Justin Maduena, the donor, met 55-year-old Stewart Botsford, the recipient, on Wednesday. It was Maduena’s first day back to work after the Aug. 16 surgery to remove his left kidney and implant it in Botsford at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Maduena knew there was going to be a gathering upon his return to work, but he didn’t realize Botsford and Botsford’s wife would attend.
Maduena became the donor after his wife saw a sign that the Botsford’s daughter, Samantha, had posted on the rear window of her car seeking a kidney donor for her father.