The boss-employee relationship between Pensacola woman Donna Huelsbeck and Diana Petersen, of Somerville, Alabama, is far from typical.

That was made clear in 2010 when Petersen, an accountant suffering from the early stages of kidney failure, explained to her boss that she would one day need a kidney.

Huelsbeck had a compatible blood type, and without so much of a hint of trepidation, she told Petersen that when that day came, she would happily donate one of her kidneys.

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"Back then, she told me, 'I'm going to give you a kidney,'" Petersen recalled. "You never know, in my situation, when you're going to need it. And a lot of people will say, 'I'll do it.' But I could tell, she was really gung-ho."

Earlier this year, Huelsbeck made good on that commitment, saving Petersen with a kidney transplant at a time when the woman's bout with Polycystic Kidney Disease had taken a turn for the worse.

"Diana and I clicked from the very beginning," said Huelsbeck, who oversaw Petersen when the two worked together at J.H. Wright, an industrial equipment supplier in Alabama. "No. 1, we hate to even say 'boss,' because she didn't need any supervising."

While pregnant in 2008 with her now son Garrett, now 10, Petersen learned she had PKD.

"My father, my three uncles, my grandmother on my father's side and then my sister passed away at 26, and we found out during an autopsy that she had PKD, as well," Petersen said of her family's tragic battle with the incurable disease.

But Petersen didn't really feel the effects of the hereditary condition until 2018, which is common.

"It's a slow progression," said Laura Little, a Fresenius Kidney Care Nurse who helped Petersen with in-home dialysis. "You don't really have symptoms until you've lost 75% of your kidney function."

Petersen's kidney function dipped below 25% in 2018, and by September, she started dialysis. She didn't stop working though, often pulling 40-plus hour work weeks while doing her best to keep her condition veiled from her coworkers.

But Petersen admitted her energy was completely zapped.

"I refused to stop working, but I was tired all the time," Petersen explained. "By 1, 2 p.m. in the afternoon, I was ready to go to bed. My husband had to pick up where I left off with taking Garrett to his baseball games. That's when I realized it's probably time to start dialysis. Once I did that, I felt a lot better."

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Little began visiting Petersen's home late last year for home dialysis.

"I had to have a surgery to have a port put in, which, it was basically put in my abdomen, there was this 12-inch tube that came out. And that was a little bit shocking," Petersen said. "When you wake up, you have this image. My little boy called it my 'tentacle.'"

Petersen eventually conducted home dialysis by herself, hooking up to a dialysis machine every day from 7:30 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. the next day.

The transplant surgery was originally estimated to take place this month, but Huelsbeck's son is a pitcher for the University of West Florida baseball team and she wanted to push up the surgery.

"I said it had to be either January or June, I wasn't going to miss any of his season," Huelsbeck said.

The sooner the better for Petersen, so the surgery took place Jan. 18 at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama.

It went off without a hitch, and both women say they've been complication-free since the procedure. Petersen said she's up to 77% kidney function and feels better than she has in years.

"I'm extremely grateful," she said. "It's a new life. I never realized how sick I was until the day after surgery. You wake up after surgery and automatically feel different.

"But I can't even explain to Donna how grateful I am," Petersen added. "She's part of my family now."

Though the two haven't worked together since 2012, they've obviously remained very close.

And even something so potentially divisive as Huelsbeck's Alabama Crimson Tide fandom and Petersen's love for the Auburn Tigers can't break their lifelong bond.

"Things are rocky in November when the Iron Bowl comes around," Huelsbeck joked. "But now she's got some Crimson Tide blood in her."

Jake Newby can be reached at jnewby@pnj.com or 850-435-8538.