WESTVALE -- Sue Burns knows first hand the gift of life.
A little more than two decades ago, doctors told her she needed a new kidney.
After a year on dialysis, Sue got that kidney and a second chance at life through her younger sister Beth, almost an exact match.
“Every single day you've had that second chance of life and some things that may bother people, they don't bother me, you're just like -- alright, this is life, and I'm going to live it to the fullest,” said Burns.
21 years later, Sue and her husband, Tom, think about that gift everyday.
They’ve been married 41 years. Together, they’ve been able to watch their two sons grow up, get married and have kids of their own.
“It was just a great, life-giving gift and to this day I would do anything for her, her husband or her family,” said Tom Burns.
As Sue and Tom watch the heartbreaking story of Taylor Fleming unfold from their home in Westvale, they can't help but admire the 17-year-old's love for others.
Taylor's family is donating her organs -- benefiting 60 people in need.
“I cannot imagine the grief that the parents are going through, but to know that she was an organ donor and that she's able to help 60 people...that's just absolutely incredible,” Sue Burns said.
It's the graciousness of the Fleming family that makes Sue's job so special these days.
Sue works at the National Kidney Foundation of Central New York -- where she continues to watch the gift of life passed on to others.
