For many of us, there is no relationship in life that can match up to that which we have with our parents. Our folks raise us, teach us, take care of us, and - most significantly - love us unconditionally. Really, there's no way we can ever repay them for what they have sacrificed for us.
Recently, though, one woman from Atlanta, Georgia, embarked on a secret weight-loss mission in an attempt to give back to the man who had always supported her throughout her life: her father.
Dawn Muhammad, the eldest daughter of 74-year-old Lucious Daniels, spent 16 months working tirelessly to lose 55 lbs (nearly 25 kgs) so that she could be eligible to donate a kidney to her dear ol' dad - but she didn't reveal the goal behind her transformation until earlier this year.
In August 2016, Daniels was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney failure, and was informed that he would not survive much longer unless he received a donation from a viable match. So, like thousands of other Americans with the same condition, he was added to the list of hopeful donor recipients.
While awaiting a kidney donation from a stranger, however, Daniels had no idea that his own daughter was making serious changes to her lifestyle in the hopes that she would be a viable match for him.
For more than a year, she dieted, exercised, and even hired a personal trainer in order to get herself down to a size that would be safe and suitable to operate on - all the while unsure about whether she'd actually be a suitable donor. In April of this year, Muhammad disclosed her scheme to her father, and last month - after almost two years of waiting for some life-saving news - Daniels found out that his daughter was a perfect match.
"I was at work and I received that phone call," Muhammad said in an interview with Fox News. "It was nine in the morning when I got the call, and the first thing they said was 'You are a perfect match with your father, you are a perfect match.'"
"I'm very thankful to be able to help my father have normalcy in his life," she added.
The mother-of-two broke the news to her dad in front of a small gathering of their closest family members, and Daniels could not contain his emotion upon hearing it.
"When it finally sunk in and I finally stopped crying all I could do is give her a hug and all the other family members were there and we hugged and thanked God for his blessings," he said.
Up until now, Daniels has had to make visits to the hospital twice a week in order to receive treatment for his kidney failure. "Being on dialysis was something that I had to do in order to survive. I didn't have a choice, " he said.
Now, however, he'll have a shot at regaining a new lease of life.
The father and daughter are scheduled to undergo surgery at the end of this month, and we sincerely wish them both the best for the procedure.
