He faced each day, pushing himself for his family, who had already lost their mother, finding each one harder. By September, his doctors believed that he had reached the end. However, his eldest daughter, Bobbi Jo Collins refused to give up.

In a last ditch effort to save Bob's life, Bobbi Jo began a search through the family for someone who could be a match for a liver resection, an experimental procedure which takes part of a liver from a living donor and either replaces or attaches the piece to the ailing individual's liver.

This procedure had never been done at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian Hospital, but doctors were willing to attempt it if a perfect match could be found. A perfect match required a tissue match, blood type match and anatomy or size match.

Then the family found their chance for a miracle. Bob's sister, Cindy Blades, under went the match testing and was found to be an utterly perfect match.

Cindy stated that she wasn't at all afraid of donating a portion of her liver to her brother. "I'm at a higher risk of danger by going outside and getting in my car," she said.

Immediately, Cindy made the decision to go forward with the procedure. From there everything went down pretty quickly, Cindy said.

"I went in on Oct. 23 and tested all week, then they called me on' Friday and told me to be back by Monday," she said. "Then they did the operation on Nov. 1."

According to Bob, the effects of the operation began immediately.

"I started feeling good right from the beginning," he said. "I think the live donation is definitely better. I'm glad we got something started down there."

I was so excited when they came in to tell me that I was okay and that Bob's body was accepting it," Cindy said.

It seems now that they've started a new trend as three more operations of this type have taken place since their procedure. Both Bob and Cindy state that they are glad to know that their experience has made more opportunities for others.

"Sometimes it's just hard for me to believe that we went through all of this," Cindy and Bob agreed.

Their mother, Arveta Carson, just laughed and said, "Then they look at their scars."

"We'd have never been able to do without God," Cindy stated. "This is such a testimony as to what having God in your life can mean. Everything feel into place perfectly.

Bob is grateful for all the support he received from family, friends and the community.

"The people in this town really came through for us," he said. "They sent cards, called us, sent money. They offered to take care of the kids, they said prayers, and you could feel it, the way people cared."

He and his children also credit Arveta for pulling the family the ordeal.

"Mom's my rock," Bob said. "She took care of everything while this was going on. She took care of a lot more than she should have ever had to.

Now Bob's main goal is to gain weight and he is expected to completely recover in about a year.

Cindy is almost completely back to normal already, and her liver is expected to finish regenerating (growing back to its normal size) within a year.

The whole experience has brought the family and this brother and sister closer together. And according to Bob, he has nothing but admiration for his sister.

"Cindy's my hero," he said. "She always will be."