Nicole Munda, who was turning 29 in 2001, had never been to a NASCAR race at that point in time.
Then a friend invited her to make the 4½-hour drive from her home in Las Vegas to the Phoenix International Raceway.
At first, she didn’t want to, as she shared with the Godwinks team. Then she rationalized that the excitement of cheering people and roaring race cars could — at least for a day — drown out the doom and gloom of her recent disheartening diagnosis from her doctor.
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She’d been told, “If you don’t find a liver donor, Nicole, you may not live past your 30s.”
Young people in their 20s don’t normally require liver transplants. But, as the Mayo Clinic confirmed, she was an exception.
Nicole Munda, pictured here, was told by doctors, “If you don’t find a liver donor, you may not live past your 30s.” (Nicole Munda)
The disease she had been fighting had progressed rapidly. She needed to look for a donor with the same rare blood type, and from a same-sized person — and from someone who was “emotionally connected.”
In other words, when the time came, a family member in excellent health would be an ideal candidate as a donor.
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At the Phoenix Raceway, Munda followed her friend to their seats amid the revving of engines and the energy of the crowd.
Munda’s dark hair wafted in the breeze as her smile — hidden quite a bit lately — lit up her face. Maybe this would be a fun day after all, she thought.
She was thinking, “How could you know anything about my liver disease?”
Scooting past eight or nine people in the aisle, she sat down next to a young man in a cowboy hat.
Her affable friend on her left took no time in making friends with the good-looking person to her right. “Where are you from?” she shouted above the roaring engines.
“About 750 miles from here. Carlin, Nevada,” he responded.
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“That’s where she’s from,” said the friend on the left, nodding at Munda.
“Really?” said the stranger.
“It’s where I grew up,” said Munda. “I live in Vegas now.”
As they formally introduced themselves, the new friend, Jess Coleman, looked at her for a moment.
Munda, shown here sitting on a Harley, couldn’t believe the “Godwink” she experienced at the Phoenix International Raceway. (Nicole Munda)
Finally, he said, “Hey, I know you! I ride in a carpool with your mom.”
“You’ve got to be kidding!”
After a few comments about how incredible that was, Coleman said something else that almost knocked her out of her seat: “How are you feeling?”
She was thinking, How could you know anything about my liver disease?
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As she looked at him in astonishment, he shrugged. “It’s a carpool. I hear your mom talking to you on the phone.”
The two of them became oblivious to the cacophony of race cars and cheering fans around them.
For the next several minutes, the two of them became oblivious to the cacophony of race cars and cheering fans around them. Amazed by the “Godwink” they were experiencing, they wondered aloud, back and forth:
“What are the odds that two people …”
“Connected by a third person, my mother…”
“Who is 750 miles away from here…”
“Would be sitting next to each other in a stadium of 125,000 screaming people?”
Coleman then had another revelation, as he later shared. He paused, then looked right into her eyes. “Hey, I think I have a picture of you on my shelf!”
The true story of Nicole Munda and Jess Coleman appears in the book “Godwinks on Love” by SQuire Rushnell. (Simon & Schuster)
“What? What are you talking about?” she said, laughing.
“Were you on a whitewater rafting trip a couple of years ago?”
She nodded.
“So was I! And I have a photo of the whole group … and always wondered who that good-looking girl was!”
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The two of them couldn’t believe it — it seemed clear that Godwinks often foster more Godwinks. At the end of that glorious day, the young pair traded phone numbers.
When Coleman returned home, he wasted no time in calling Munda in Vegas. They talked for hours.
At the end of that glorious day, the couple traded phone numbers.
Pretty soon, he was driving down from Carlin every weekend — and within four months their love was in full bloom.
He asked her to marry him and she said yes. The couple set a date for three months after that.
While falling in love was pretty darn good medicine for Nicole Munda’s spirits, her liver disease took no time off — it rapidly worsened.
Nicole Munda and Jess Coleman on their wedding day. He encouraged her when she was depressed and helped track down cousins and other possible liver donors in the family tree. (Nicole Munda)
Coleman became helpful support for her. He encouraged her when she was depressed and helped in tracking down cousins and other possible donors in the family tree. Unfortunately, none of the appeals succeeded.
Their wedding plans, meanwhile, were coming together quickly.
Then, just prior to the big day, doctors delivered shocking news.
Tests indicated that Munda’s liver might be cancerous. But the only way that could be confirmed was through surgery.
And if so, they would need to remove the liver.
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In other words, they couldn’t operate unless she had a donor waiting to provide 60% of his or her liver.
Coleman begged the doctors to test him. Why couldn’t he be a donor candidate?
Resistant at first, the doctors finally accepted his rationale. He was going to be her husband, after all — so wouldn’t that qualify as being “emotionally connected”? The doctors agreed to take the first steps. Test him.
The couple proceeded with their wedding.
Bride and groom on their wedding day. Coleman was found to be the same rare blood type as Munda. He was also the same size physically as her and in perfect health. That led to an arduous, week-long battery of tests. (Nicole Munda)
Family and friends gathered to celebrate the couple’s new journey, while most also prayed that the terrible uncertainty hanging over their heads would be removed and that Munda would have a donor.
Instead of a traditional honeymoon, the happy young couple headed to Mayo Clinic in Phoenix.
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Within hours, they had the start of good news.
The groom gave the bride the most beautiful wedding present ever: the gift of life.
Coleman was the same rare blood type as Munda, the same size physically — and in perfect health. That led to an arduous and week-long battery of tests.
To everyone’s amazement, the doctors announced that Jess Coleman was a perfect match.
Within a few weeks, the groom gave the bride the most beautiful wedding present ever: the gift of life.
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As they recuperated in side-by-side beds, the newlyweds had plenty of time to count all the blessings they’d been given — not to mention a bushel of amazing Godwinks.
This story was first published in SQuire Rushnell’s 2004 book “Godwinks on Love,” copyright © SQuire Rushnell, and is published by permission. The scripting development was recently finished for Nicole Munda and Jess Coleman’s extraordinary story. For more info, see www.godwinks.com. SQuire Rushnell and Louise DuArt are co-founders of the Godwinks brands and are based in Massachusetts.
