Tacoma Starbucks Barista Donates Kidney To Customer
SEATTLE (AP) — Annamarie Ausnes says her Starbucks’ barista is a lifesaver.
She became friends with Sandi Andersen during regular stops at a Tacoma Starbucks for coffee.
When Ausnes told Andersen she needed a kidney transplant, Andersen found out she was a match. And in operations Tuesday at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, Andersen donated a kidney to Ausnes.
Ausness is a 55-year-old who works at the University of Puget Sound. Andersen is 51 and has also done missionary work in Mexico and helped dig mud out of houses after Hurricane Katrina.
The women say they are now bonded together for life.
