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A California doctor was ever grateful for the help her colleague gave him in order to save his life. Dr. Colleen Coleman, a general surgeon, donated her kidney to Dr. Brian Dunn, an anesthesiologist that she works with at Hoag Hospital Newport Beach.

Dr. Dunn's kidney failed from chemotherapy that he received as a teenager to treat his stomach tumor. One donor withdrew her offer after Dunn's doctor advised him against accepting the kidney from a patient with Lou Gehrig's disease.

Coleman wanted to make sure Dunn's 6-year-old daughter didn't grow up fatherless. She recalled a similar experience when her grandmother died of kidney failure when her mother was 6 years old.

Dunn had previously received a kidney from his mother when he was 25, however, donated kidneys don't last forever. In 2015, his health was failing and he could hardly keep pace with his young daughter. He started dialysis in April and went through the process four times a day to purify his blood. The time-consuming and tiring process was like prison for him, he said.

Coleman, 51, almost didn't go through with donating her kidney after an initial screening mistakenly said she wasn't a match. In June, the testing company called and said it made a mistake.

The surgery was done on January 30 and was a success. Dunn, 45, said he felt grateful three weeks later after recovery. Coleman returned to work to find flowers, a cake and people hailing her as a hero. She said she was moved by the note from Dunn according to CBS News.

According to The Washington Post, to show his appreciation Dunn gave Coleman a set of kidney-shaped Tiffany earrings for her sacrifice. And in return, Coleman gave him a Tiffany money clip in the shape of a kidney as a reminder of their bond.