A Dallas family is celebrating life this New Year, after one member of the family gave another family member the gift of life.
Many brother-sister pairs say they carry around a piece of their family, for Taylor Parrott and her brother Casey, they mean it literally.
Casey has a rare birth defect that has causes his kidney function to fail. It's a serious condition but it's not a problem for Casey.
Several years ago, Casey's father donated his kidney to replace a failing one.
Then early this year, it all happened again. Casey's kidney wasn't working and he needed another organ donation to survive.
That's where Taylor came in. She got tested and found out she was a rare, perfect genetic match. She offered her kidney to Casey which wasn't the easiest thing to accept.
"It was really tough, it was really tough. The day they came in and told me she was a match, I wasn't excited. I was actually pretty mad. I didn't want to tell anybody, but I was mad about it. I didn't want to put my sister through this. I didn't want to feel greedy," said Casey. "Here I am, 'I need another kidney, you guys up for the challenge?' It was really tough."
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"I think just because we've always been so close, we've always shared a very unique and special bond," said Taylor. "The statistics of even being able to get to the point of where we are three months later... it's just amazing."
It's been a particularly special holiday season for the Parrotts because Taylor was able to guarantee Casey a great new year.
"I feel better than I've ever felt," said Casey.
"It's all worth it, absolutely, absolutely," said Taylor.
