What started off as a joke about sneakerheads and their passion has turned into a little bit of a philanthropic phenomenon that involves Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. If this all works out, it will be the best fairy tale involving a pair of Yeezy Boosts we've ever read.
Matt Neal, a 26-year-old sneaker fan from Michigan, won a pair of the coveted Yeezys in a raffle, he told the Daily Dot. He was not so lucky earlier in life, when he contracted the rare kidney disease IgA nephropathy, or Berger's disease, after an untreated case of strep throat he had in third grade. As he stated in a Facebook post on Thursday, "People are always joking that they would give a kidney for a pair of Yeezys!!"
The sneaker community spread the message far and wide. And even though it is completely illegal to pay for an organ with money, goods, or services, it looks like voluntary donors are stepping up. According to TMZ, the Wests have offered Neal a second pair of YBs if he ends up making the trade — and that story alone, getting pickup on sites like this one, is helping spread the word that approximately 123,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for life-saving organ transplants.
"I've been in tears twice now because all the love and support that I'm getting from random strangers!!" Neal posted on Thursday. On Saturday, he wrote, "It's 5 in the morning and all I can think about is how many people I'm about to be able to help with the awareness that has been raised from one little post."
Neal told the Daily Dot that his post has connected him with others in need of kidneys, too. "They didn't have a pair of Yeezys to make their post go viral," he said. "If I don't get a kidney from this post, but 20 other people do, that's enough for me."
Becoming a live kidney donor is a big deal, but if you're one of these insanely generous souls, visit here for more information. Registering yourself to be a donor after you die, however, is ridiculously easy (go do it now!).