A year ago, Gena Perreault and Jeff Bruning barely knew each other.

Now, she is forever a part of him, a sentiment that they shared Thanksgiving Day when they spent the holiday together.

On May 5, Perreault donated a kidney to Bruning whom she met through her husband, Paul, a frequent customer in Paul’s ACE Hardware paint department where Bruning worked.

“It’s been life-changing. I have no words to describe knowing that someone saved your life,” said 48-year-old Bruning.

“At the time, it was the right thing to do. I could tell he was running out of time,” recalled Perreault, when she met him for the second time in early spring.

Perreault astonished him when she said, “I’ll give you a kidney.”

At first, he was hesitant because previous offers had failed to materialize for a number of reasons -- incapability or reconsidering losing a body part.

“You start to lose hope,” said Bruning.

He was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease in early 2013. Other than a transplant kidney, there were no other options than to go on dialysis three times a week for four-hour sessions to flush out the toxins in his body.

Dialysis led to bouts of atrial fibrillation and nausea, resulting in 27 hospitalizations. His weight dropped to 167 pounds from its normal 230 pounds.

About a month after Perreault’s initial offer, he called her and asked if she was still serious. He provided information on becoming a kidney donor and the transplant operation at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix.

“I was on cloud nine,” recalled Bruning when Perreault said she had not changed her mind.

That evening he attended a dialysis session and bragged to everyone that he had a possible donor. His insurance paid for the operation.

Perreault experienced two days of examinations and testing to determine if she was a valid candidate. The mother of three adult children and her former husband cheered her on by telling her “go for it.”

At one time, Perreault had planned to donate a section of her liver to a sister-in-law but it never did happen.

“Every person has the ability to make a positive change in the world,” said Perreault, adding that she came along at the right time for Bruning. She has no second thoughts about her decision.

She was so impressed with Mayo’s transplant procedure that she applied for a job and was accepted in the cardiovascular department.

A member of Four Peaks Rotary, Perreault received the organization’s “Service above Self” award.

Bruning is back on the job three hours a day, five days a week. Later this month, he will attend the wedding of his daughter Nicole in Texas and visit his two-year-old grandson, Rey.

Bruning praises his co-workers and management at ACE Hardware and the congregation of Fountain Hills Presbyterian Church for their support and never forgetting him. The store raised funds by selling T-shirts and customers left donations that kept him going financially.

“Every day when I wake up, I thank God she came along and I made it through it (the operation) and survived,” said Bruning.