NEW YORK: A New Jersey father of five whose “In Need of Kidney” T-shirt went viral has received a life-saving transplant from a complete stranger.

Robert Leibowitz, 60, said on Friday he had the surgery last week at a New York hospital and is now “walking on clouds.”

“Everything had to fall into place,” he said.

“The stars had to be aligned.”

Leibowitz said his background in advertising and the roughly decade-long waiting list for a new kidney led him to make the T-shirt and wear it every day during a vacation to Disney World last summer.

When a picture of the shirt took off on social media, he said his phone started buzzing with calls, voicemails and messages from random people wanting to help.

“I got my doubts sometimes about humanity but the fact that I got so many calls, it brought tears to my eyes,” he said.

Medical tests narrowed the donor pool until a 39-year-old man from Indiana, Richie Sully, was found to be a perfect match.

“As bad as my memory is, I will never forget what I told him: ‘Hi my name is Richie. I saw your post on Facebook, I’m O-positive, I have an extra kidney, you’re welcome to it. I’m not crazy but I’m from Indiana,’” said Sully, who made multiple trips to New York to prep for the procedure.

The two men quickly became friends. Leibowitz took Sully to New York City landmarks such as Central Park and Grand Central.

“We had so much in common, no awkwardness,” Leibowitz said.

“It was a match made in heaven.” Leibowitz said his kidneys have been an issue since age 12 and that he put himself on a donor list about four years ago.

Associated Press