There's a special place in the hearts of the Olson family for the woman they call their hero, Sally Pfund.

"Her life will continue on through all the people that she's helped," said her sister, Cindy Johnson.

Sally was a long-time volleyball coach, a native of Mondovi, and someone who changed lives off and on the court.

"She was vivacious, bubbly, energetic, always on the go, always busy, loved kids, loved her job," Johnson said. "She helped everyone and anyone that she could possibly help."

"Our daughter actually went to volleyball camp over at Sal's and stayed at her house for a week in August," said Wendy Olson.

Last month, Sally passed away at age 49 after having a stroke during brain surgery. It left her family devastated, and communities across Wisconsin in mourning.

It was also a glimmer of hope for Wendy Olson's husband Dave. He's Sally's husband's second cousin, who had been dealing with a condition called Alport Syndrome.

The Alport Syndrome Foundation says genetic defects cause it to slowly deteriorate the filtering parts of the kidney.

When another family member found out Sally's kidney may save Dave's life, she told Sally's family. Once it was determined that Sally was a compatible donor for Dave, they made the arrangements.

Dave says getting the phone call with that news was bittersweet.

"It's very hard, because you don't want somebody to lose a family member to benefit yourself," he said.

"At the time that I knew that, it was the only good thing that I could say about the fact that my sister gave her life," said Johnson.

Dave is recovering now, and spending more time with family than before the transplant.

Wendy says she hopes Sally's family understands how fortunate the Olsons feel.

"We can't thank them enough for saving Dave's life," she said.

"There's not enough words to tell them 'thank you,'" Dave said. "You can't even come up with the right words, but they need to know how grateful we are...Sally helped a lot of other people besides me, and I'm sure they're thinking the same thing."

Probably that a woman who gave so much during her short life, ended up giving "The Gift of Life" to some of the people who needed it the most.