MID-COUNTY -- Wesley Roy Jr. was working in Louisiana in the summer of 2023 when he started to notice a change with his health.

Back pain revealed a deeper issue with his kidneys.

"We got the kidney doctor in town, and he ran more tests and looked at the tests, they ran up there and decided that we need to do something rather quickly, because it was at 7% function," says Roy.

Roy received a diagnosis of polycystic kidney disease, the same illness he lost his father to seven years prior.

After having both kidneys removed, he now needed a donor.

After several friends and family underwent testing to see if they could donate their kidneys, the best match turned out to be his ex-wife.

"I didn't want my kids to go without a dad. I didn't want to lose a friend, so we were just very concerned about him and worried," says Lena Stevens, Roy's ex-wife.

Roy and Stevens underwent surgery in June.

While the surgery was successful, Stevens faced complications with a partially collapsed lung during.

"It was a struggle to breathe. So, the first couple of days was really rough on me. Really didn't get out of bed a lot," says Stevens.

Roy is now enjoying his second chance at life.

"Very thankful. I'm sitting here because of her," says Roy.