Have you ever worked as a barista in a coffee shop or at a bar? If you did, you’d know that baristas know when their customers are happy or when they are going through tough times.
Even though you’d hardly see a barista asking you if you are having something to worry about? But one Starbucks employee did something out of curiosity and helped saved an army veteran’s life.
Vince Villano, an army veteran sergeant, almost used to go everyday to his favorite Starbucks located in DuPoint, Washington. Even though he was a regular customer, none of the employees ever talked to him.
But one day when he came, he was looking quite sad and Barista Nicole McNeil noticed that something is not right. While giving an interview, Nicole told, “As a barista, we can really tell when our customers are sad and when they’re hurting and so it was neat to have the opportunity to talk with him,”
Once her shift was over, she went to his table and sat next to her and asked if everything was alright. “He walked in and just looked particularly sad,” said Nicole, “and I was just like, ‘What’s, ya know, what’s goin’ on Vince?’” Nicole found out that he was an army veteran just like her husband but what he told next was literally heartbreaking.
Vince told that he was suffering from kidney disease for 10 years but not doctors have told that he has to go through dialysis and need a kidney donor.
That was quite sad for Nicole to hear that, but at night, when she talked about it with her husband, she was surprised the way he replied.
“I have a kidney, he can have mine.” Nicole told a local news agency that her husband is one of the kindest people you could ever meet. “He cares about people almost more than any anybody I’ve ever met,” Nicole said. “He’s the kindest person I’ve ever met.
So, when he said, ‘I’ll give my kidney,’ it seemed like, ‘OK, sure. Yeah, you will.’”
And they invited Vince and his children to their home and told him that Justin, Nicole’s husband, is ready to donate his kidney to save his life. When Vince found about it he couldn’t help but crying. And finally, Vince was able to have a successful kidney transplant. He always says that he owes his life to Nicole and Justin.
He gave an interview after the operation and said, “When I was first diagnosed, I felt like, ‘Well, I’m dying. It was not my first encounter with mortality. I had some situations in the military. But this was really out of my control. There’s nothing you can do. It’s kind of black cloud that hangs over your head all the time.”
What a beautiful story restoring our faith in humanity.
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