It's billed as the place where dreams come true, and for one New Jersey man searching for a much-needed donation, a vacation to Disney proved to bring a little life-saving magic.

Robert Leibowitz, a 60-year-old Lawrence Township man with chronic kidney disease, took a trip last August with his five kids to the Magic Kingdom in Florida. With the help of his daughter, the single dad crafted a T-shirt advertising that he was in need of a kidney, his blood type, and a phone number to reach him. He wore it around the park every day during their vacation, he said.

Roco and Juan Sandoval, a couple celebrating a birthday at Magic Kingdom, snapped a picture and asked Leibowitz if they could share it on social media. He happily obliged, he told NJ Advance Media.

On Tuesday Juan and I celebrated his birthday at Magic Kingdom. On our way out we saw this man pushing a teenage boy in... Posted by Roco Sand on Sunday, August 27, 2017

"All the sudden I had 300 texts, calls and Facebook messages," Leibowitz said. "By the end of the day (the photo) had been shared like, 30,000 times."

A few days later, Indiana resident Richie Sully saw the post while he was giving blood. A nurse friend who was aiding in Houston's hurricane relief sent him the post and urged him to see if he was a match.

"I knew I was O positive, because I had just given blood, and I saw he was looking for someone O positive," Sully, 39, said. "I was reading that he was this single father of five and I thought about my two daughters, and my own dad's health problems." He left a message for Leibowitz, not sure if the New Jersey man had already found a donor.

In the weeks after it was posted, the photo reached 90,000 shares and Leibowitz said more than 50 people applied to donate their kidneys.

But the voicemail Sully left struck Leibowitz, he said.

"He seemed so positive and he was very proactive," Leibowitz said. "I didn't want anyone to feel like they were pressured into it. But, he just wanted to help."

Leibowitz has had complications with his kidneys since he was 12 years old and has needed a donor for years. He's been able to live with frequent dialysis treatments, but no one in his family was a match, he said. His son also had to have a kidney removed as an infant.

"It's very hard to find a live donor," Leibowitz said.

In Indiana, Sully completed preliminary questionnaires and medical tests, cut out junk food and lost 30 pounds in the weeks of waiting to hear if he'd be a match -- healthier patients are better matches, he said.

Finally, after weeks of uncertainty, Sully got a call that he was Leibowitz's match.

"I was on NJ transit coming back from New York when he called me," Leibowitz said. "He said, 'we're ready to rock,' and I immediately called my kids and we just all broke down."

In early December, Sully traveled to New York City, where the operation will take place, for the first round of pre-surgical testing and mandatory counseling to prepare him for the operation. Because he'll have to make three trips for operation prep, Sully started a crowdfunding page he said he hopes will just cover the costs of traveling to and staying in New York.

The two recently met in-person for the first time after months of correspondence. They ate sushi, and Leibowitz showed Sully around the city.

"I really don't see it as that big of a deal for me to do this," Sully, who was on an Amtrak train from Indiana to New York City for his second in-person round of testing and pre-operation prep, said in a phone interview Wednesday.

"So much had to happen for this to work, you know? He had to wear the shirt, Roco had to take that picture, (my friend) had to send it to me," he said. "I'm hoping it's going to give courage to people who were considering donating. It's about saving lives."

The donation operation will take place next week, months after the Disney trip and posted photo.

"You know, I kind of did it out of desperation, but it worked," Leibowitz said. "I really wanted those 25 to 30 years left with my kids."

Paige Gross may be reached at pgross@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @By_paigegross. Find NJ.com on Facebook.