But Steven's dear friend, Abby, stepped up with a miracle. She donated one of her own kidneys to save his life. And just two months after a successful surgery, Cojo appeared on our show.
But days later, Steven developed a high fever and flu-like symptoms—his body was rejecting the new kidney and there was nothing the doctors could do to stop it.
"I got ragingly sick and I went into the hospital and the doctor said, 'You have something called a polyoma virus.' [It's] very rare," Cojo says. "And then my whole world was shattered."
And how did Abby feel about it?
"Oprah, that was probably one of the worst parts of it, having to tell Abby about this," Cojo says. "I feel incredibly guilty, to be honest with you. It still eats away at me. ... In a way I feel like I let her down, you know? But she was wonderful."