She was hours away from life-saving kidney transplant. A car crash cut her life short

Michelle Fox posted an optimistic Facebook status on April 24.

"As the 'big day' gets closer, my heart is getting more overwhelmed," she wrote, "and I was reminded yesterday from a friend 'one day at a time' (and) 'Gods got this' #myfight#prayers."

Fox, a 42-year-old from Charleston, West Virginia, was celebrating because her long-time friend Shelly Lantz told her that she was a match for her life-saving kidney transplant, according to WCHS. Fox had only 16 percent of a functioning kidney after she battled scleroderma for 16 years but was set to receive a new kidney on April 28.

Lantz — the maid of honor at Fox's wedding — told WCHS that she surprised her friend of 30 years with the good news.

"I said what are you doing on April 28?" she said. "She loved Luke Bryan and she thought that I had gotten a ticket for that. She said, 'I thought you were taking me to a concert.' I said no."

But Fox never received that kidney from Lantz. According to an obituary in the Charleston Gazette-Mail, Fox died April 27 in a car crash — just hours before she was set to receive her new lease on life.

She has a surviving son, husband and brother and was buried on May 3.

Lantz mourned the loss of her friend in a head-on collision but found solace in Fox's new-found hope.

"The day we had our pre-admission testing, which was Thursday ... it was the last day that I hugged her and the last day that I saw her,” Lantz told WCHS.

"She was in a good place,” she added. “She had more hope than she's had in a long time."

This story was originally published May 5, 2018 at 4:22 PM with the headline "She was hours away from life-saving kidney transplant. A car crash cut her life short."