It’s better to give than to receive! But a Washington, D.C., woman was rewarded big time for her generous gift—she was given her own beauty salon after donating one of her kidneys to her mentor, according to CNN.
Acia Williams has known her mentor, Chet Bennett, for 20 years. She learned from a Facebook post in 2018 that Bennett needed a kidney transplant and stepped up to offer hers after finding out that others who offered before her didn’t match. In a show of gratitude, Bennett gave her the Washington, D.C. beauty shop she’d managed for years for him.
“Everybody loves him, because he’s just a genuine person. He’s always been a giver, and he’s always helpful. He’s had hundreds and hundreds of students,” Williams told CNN.
Williams went through a series of tests to ensure that she was healthy enough to be a donor. After finding out she was a match, the transplant surgery took place on April 9, 2019. After the successful transplant, Williams ended up staying at Bennett’s house during their recovery so his mother and sister could look after them. It was during that time that Bennett informed her he was giving her the shop he owned.
“He was like ‘You need to hurry up and get ready, because I’m going to give you this salon,'” Williams recalled. She said they’d spoken in the past about her buying the shop but she had no idea that he would give it to her. Bennett was back on his feet and returned to work in September and transferred the salon to her by mid-October, Williams said.
Williams’ new business is up and running and had the grand opening this week for the beauty salon, A New Image By Acia, located at 705 Florida Avenue. NW, Washington, DC.
Meanwhile, Bennett told WJLA that he was grateful to be able to jog and walk his dogs again and had a message for Williams: “I can’t begin to thank you enough for you giving me life, but we can start with you making your dream a reality by having your own salon.”