‘IT WAS A NO BRAINER FOR ME.’ EMPLOYEE DONATES KIDNEY TO CO-WORKER

Two Eversource employees say they are bonded “for life” after one donated a kidney to the other earlier this year.

Ken Pefine gave his kidney to Matt Knowles. They work together in the energy company’s natural gas unit. They met nearly 14 years ago.

Knowles, of Cambridge, received a kidney transplant in 2006 from his sister, however the kidney failed 10 years later, and Marshfield father went on dialysis. He went for treatment three nights a week for four hours, working full-time.

Family and friends were searching for a donor when Pefine said he wanted to help.

“It was a no brainer for me,” Pefine said. “Matt is a good person and empowering him was important to me. He’d already been through a lot and I just really wanted to help.”

Pefine went through some testing and found out he was a match for Knowles.

“It’s kind of unbelievable that a friend from work stepped up the way he did. Doing what he did got me off dialysis at least three years early. It’s just incredible. It bonds us for life,” Knowles said.

The January surgery was a success and they both returned to work in March.

“He can move on with his life now,” said Pefine. “My life hasn’t changed since the surgery. Once we get back to the normal grind, we’ll go out to dinner to celebrate.”