Conn. mayor donates kidney to Facebook friend [View All]

http://www.salon.com/technology/facebook/index.html?story=/news/feature/2010/04/21/us_facebook_mayor_s_kidney

Conn. mayor donates kidney to Facebook friend
Politician sees status update saying the man had no relatives or friends who were a match
By STEPHANIE REITZ, Associated Press


Politicians long ago discovered the uses of Facebook. The mayor of a Connecticut city found something else there: a constituent who needed her kidney.

East Haven Mayor April Capone Almon (AHL'-muhn) is recovering after undergoing the surgery to help save the life of a man she knew only casually.

She says she became involved in 44-year-old Carlos Sanchez's case shortly after reading a status update in August saying he needed a kidney and no relatives or friends were a match.

The mayor says she decided to be tested and came up as a match. She was running for a second term as mayor of her New Haven suburb when they were working out donation plans.

They underwent the transplant surgery two weeks ago. Both donor and recipient are doing well.