Deb Blaker and Paula Auten

Deb and Paula share a love for books, and as former school classmates, they were reunited by joining a local book club together.

Little did they know that they shared something much deeper. At one book club meeting, as Deb talked about the liver transplant that saved her life, Paula started to piece together the dates and wonder if maybe her brother Mark Coker, who had passed away that same day, could have been her donor.

“The chances were just so slim that Mark could have been her donor with us being from such small communities outside of Topeka, so I thought there was no way,” Paula said.

After the two exchanged letters through Midwest Transplant Network, it was discovered that Mark was in fact Deb’s donor.

“I’m grateful for the gift of life he gave me, and for the friendship I now share with Paula,” said Deb.

Paula added: “My parents made the decision to have Mark be a donor because something good had to come out of his accident. It just felt like the right thing to do.”