Teen at Costco noticed the back of a stranger's shirt and stopped in her steps – it made her rush for her phone to save him

Having observation skills can go a long way in helping others. Be it something like a unique poster or an unusual detail on a t-shirt, it can make a difference when the need arises. In 2018, a teenage girl, Karen Aguayo, spotted a unique detail on a stranger’s T-shirt at Costco and managed to make a life-changing difference, per AZ Central. When the college student engaged in a conversation with the shopper, Robert Duran, she learned something heartbreaking and decided that she had to use her ability to help the man out. 

Aguayo was shopping with a few friends at Costco when she spotted an elderly man rolling his shopping cart. His t-shirt had a text that read, "Kidney donor needed, Type B+, Ask me how." The young girl was curious and approached him to ask about the t-shirt. "I felt like it was the right thing to do," she remarked. "Once I read his shirt, I felt something in my heart. It's not every day that you see shirts that say that and that was a first for my friends and me," the teenager added. When she interacted with Duran, she learned that he and his wife had been wearing t-shirts with those words each time they stepped out of their home. 

Duran's wife was also at the store at the time, supporting her husband's silent request for a kidney donor. "We go all over the place wearing them. We are just hoping someone sees them," she remarked. Duran was diagnosed with stage five kidney disease. He had to undergo dialysis three times a week, four hours a day. He was placed on a waiting list, but hope was bleak. According to the statistics from Organ Donor, 89,792 people are on a national waiting list for a kidney transplant. 13 people die every day due to a long wait for an organ donation. 

Duran and his wife were doing everything to get a donor. "He said he has gone to the airport and pretends like he has a flight while wearing that shirt. That hit home," Aguayo revealed. The teenager pondered how she could do something for the couple. "I decided to post it on social media because I thought maybe someone out there who has Twitter can donate or just help with a simple retweet to find him a donor," she noted. In a since-deleted tweet, Aguayo shared Duran's story.

The tweet was reposted by @Coach_Kap_29 and read, “We came across this man at Costco and we asked him about his shirt. He said he has been looking for a donor for four years and still nothing. Please do me a favor and RT this.” The post was retweeted over 240,000 times. People got to work sharing the news and trying to find a possible donor who could match, no matter which corner of the world they might be in. Following that simple help, Duran received many calls to check for a match. "I think of them as a saint. I think the Lord brought them down for me," he remarked. However, it was in November 2019 when Duran finally received a kidney donor and underwent the successful surgery, per Fox10 Phoenix.