Woman on Dialysis and in Need of Kidney Donor Gets Life-Saving Call from Sorority Sister: ‘Still in Shock’ (Exclusive)

Jessica Hause says her sorority sister is now "saving my life" by donating her kidney

An Ohio woman in need of a kidney transplant has found her donor in one of her oldest friends: a sorority sister she's known for 18 years.

Jessica Hause has gone viral on TikTok for sharing the emotional moment her longtime friend Megan Schultz told her that she was a match.

In the video, 37-year-old Hause can be seen answering a video call while Schultz tells her the news.

"I have some exciting news for you," Schultz says. "I am a match!"

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Hause, clearly in shock, then opens her eyes wide and covers her face in amazement. "No, Megan, you're not — you are?" Hause says in disbelief.

"Yes, and I've been through all the testing and everything," she responds.

As the two then both begin to cry, Schultz says, "I am so excited to be able to do this for you, Jess."

Speaking to PEOPLE in an exclusive interview, Hause says she was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease in September 2023, while she was living In Charlotte, North Carolina.

"My parents live in Ohio so they had to help me move back home since I would need care," she says. "I started dialysis immediately when I was diagnosed and have been going three to four times a week for 3.5 hours at a time."

Once she became eligible to get on the transplant list in January, she shared a post on Instagram letting people know she was looking for a live donor.

"Then weekly, I would make a Reel showing people a glimpse into what my life now looked like, and what a week as a young dialysis patient was like," Hause says.

That schedule included dialysis in the morning followed by a five-mile walk and several pilates workouts before cooking dinner.

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"At that point I still had to do a marathon of testing to even see if I would be accepted on the list," Hause adds. "I kept posting consistently to make people aware of organ donation and what a massive shortage there is. There are about 15 or more tests and appointments you have to clear to be put on the list —anything from a mammogram to dental exams. They literally check you from head to toe to make sure your body can withstand a major surgery."

The final step is a surgeons conference, Hause explains, where a team of doctors determines whether or not to put a potential organ transplant recipient on the list to receive the organ.

Hause was officially placed on the list on April 22.

Less than two months later, on June 13, she got the FaceTime call from her old sorority sister.

Hause calls Schultz her "donor, hero and angel," and says she is "still in shock" after receiving the phone call.

"[She is] the one who is saving my life," Hause says, noting that the two met in college at Ohio State University 18 years ago, when both pledged Pi Beta Phi.

"We lived together in college, we traveled to Bowl games together and no matter the distance we’ve always stayed friends," says Hause of Schultz, who lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband and works as an attorney.

"She has always been the sweetest, most kind soul, doesn’t have an enemy and we had such a blast in college. She’s brave, loyal and so selfless. She stepped up when not a lot of other people would and I believe God put her in my life for this exact reason," Hause says.

The gift of Schultz's kidney, Hause says, "means getting a second chance at life."

With surgery set for Nov. 12, Hause and Schultz plan to recover together for five to six days in the hospital following the procedures. Then, Hause says, she plans to move to Columbus herself, so she can make memories with her friend "for years to come."

"It’s bigger than anything I can ever fathom," she says. "The courage she has is remarkable. She’s the type of person everyone should aspire to be like, and the type of friend everyone needs. This is life changing for me ... this is my new beginning."

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