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CHARLOTTE—It was a emotional meeting Friday as three kidney donors met three kidney recipients at Carolinas Medical Center.

The six people involved were part of a paired kidney transplant, which is a new way of finding a match after a donor's kidney is found to be incompatible with their loved one. It started when a Gastonia man, Rick Stone, 51, donated his kidney anonymously.

A Chester, S.C. woman was one such recipient.

"It's amazing that someone would be willing to give up part of their body for me, because of him, I'm in better health than I've been in 20 years," said Chester resident Jan Boyd.

Shortly thereafter Kammie Weaver, 50, received a donation from Bobby Boyd. Weaver was in need of a second kidney transplant and facing death if she waited too long on the list. Weaver's family member donated to another stranger, Amber, completing the loop.

The paired kidney transplant is a policy in place since 2008 at Carolinas Medical Center.

"A kidney transplant improves their quality of life, they're not on dialysis," said Dr. Casingal.

There are more than 90,000 people awaiting a kidney transplant across the United States. More than 3,000 of those people live in North Carolina alone.