Custom sign brought to Penguins game saves fan's life

Usually when fans bring signs to a sporting event, it’s an opportunity to get themselves onto the jumbotron at the venue. If they’re lucky and their message is clever enough, they might even end up on television.

For 31-year-old hockey fan Kelly Sowatsky, the sign that she brought to a Pittsburgh Penguins game in April was a chance to save her life. In need of a kidney and with her health declining, the hockey community came through for her.

The large piece of Bristol board that she brought to the game had a simple message: ‘Calling all hockey fans. I need a kidney! Gratefully yours, Kelly.’

That’s when the positive power of social media shone. The official Twitter account of the Pittsburgh Penguins tweeted out a photo of Kelly holding the sign and it quickly went viral.

It’s one thing to retweet a post, wish someone the best or ‘send thoughts and prayers’, it’s another to actually do something to help someone else. Jeff Lynd, who, like Kelly, is a teacher and Penguins fan, reached out via Facebook and offered to donate his kidney to her, someone he had never met.

“I saw desperation and, you know, I saw courage,” he told Good Morning America while holding the sign that changed both of their lives. “I had this feeling that it was just something that I had to do.”

The two met, it was confirmed that they were, in fact, a match and the successful transplant occurred two weeks ago.

It was a common love of the sport and some social media magic that connected the two of them. Now, Kelly and Jeff will be linked by more than just their love of the Penguins for the rest of their lives.

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