COLUMBUS, Ohio — Aaron Portzline has covered the Columbus Blue Jackets since the very beginning. A beat writer who's been around Nationwide Arena since it was built. Little did he know that a person he passed in the hallway would become a life-saving friend.
Portzline has dealt with Polycystic kidney disease for the past few years, According to the National Kidney Foundation, the disease causes numerous cysts to grow in the kidneys. If too many cysts grow or get too big, the kidneys can become damaged — reducing kidney function and leading to kidney failure.
Portzline says the disease runs in his family. After battling the disease in private for many years, he went public with a call to the Fifth Line.
In a tweet, Portzline said he is "not doing well" and had "stage five kidney failures." The only option to help him is a transplant.
So many friends, family and fans got tested hoping to be a match for Portzline, but each of them got denied. That was until Lindy Noel got tested.
Noel works in the communication department for the Columbus Blue Jackets. So often she is sharing great stories with the media surrounding the CBJ. When she heard that Portzline needed a kidney, she didn't think twice about getting tested.
She went through multiple steps until it was confirmed she was a match and could be a donor. Noel didn't want to tell Portzline the news until the surgery was scheduled to keep him from getting his hopes up.
After everything was in place, she and Aaron sat down for an interview in the Blue Jackets studio. It's there she told him the news that she was giving him her kidney.
Two surgeries later and it was a success. Both are recovering well and feeling good. A few weeks after the surgery, Noel and Portzline met at a local park to reflect on the journey.
Now both are hoping to turn their story into one that inspires someone else to donate their organs.
Noel presented an award Thursday night at the NHL Awards where the NHL also paid a special tribute to her and Portzline.