Crown Heights Husband's Plea For Kidney Goes Viral: Reports

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN -- A Crown Heights woman in need of a kidney is one step closer to finding a match after her husband's sign was spotted by a local CNN reporter.

Raymond Thompson was shopping in a Brooklyn Target the afternoon of Dec. 21 when CNN Travel editor Lilit Marcus snapped a photo of his plea for a kidney donation strapped to his backpack, she wrote.

"In need of a kidney for my wife, B+," the sign reads. "917-442-6202."

Marcus shared her photo on Twitter one day later and Thompson's request for a kidney has since reached more than 35,000 potential donors across the globe, including celebrities Zach Braff, Evan Rachel Wood and Sarah Hyland, CNN reported.

Thompson, his wife Mylen and Rachel, their 4-year old daughter, were shocked by the outpour of support, they told Brooklyn News 12.

"I am very grateful for him," said Mylen, who was diagnosed with kidney disease two years ago and now relies on dialysis. "He did everything for me."

"It's something any husband would do," Raymond explained. "You took a vow, for better or worse."

After the Thompsons' story went viral, the couple decided to move to NYU Langone Hospital, where they may be able to test potential donors from across the globe, according to CNN.

"Sickness doesn't care who you are," Raymond told Marcus. "I appreciate everyone who reaches out."

Thompson is not the first New York City husband to use a sign to plead a kidney donation for his wife. Queens resident Michael Bilski posted a donation plea on his car in hopes he could "save the love of my life," he told Patch.

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