A Fredericton man is reflecting today on one family's sacrifice that ensured he would live.

Exactly three years ago today, Rehtaeh Parsons died after attempting to take her own life at the age of 17.

She told her family she was sexually assaulted by four boys at a November 2011 party, and a photo of the incident was subsequently circulated.

Terry Dupuis believes the kidney that saved his life came from Rehtaeh Parsons. (Edwin Hunter/CBC)

Her organs were donated, including her heart, kidneys and corneas. When she was taken off life support, five other people got a new lease on life.

A short time later, Terry Dupuis, a dialysis patient who was waiting for a kidney, got the call.

It was the transplant co-ordinator in Saint John, N.B.

He raced to Halifax, where he received a kidney — likely one of Rehtaeh's.

'Hard to celebrate something like that'

He had been to Halifax three other times for transplant, but those didn't work out. For Dupuis, the fourth time was the charm.

Dupuis arrived in Halifax April 9, 2013, and successfully received the transplant the next evening, on his birthday.

"I was happy I was getting a transplant but there's a double whammy — it's so hard to celebrate something like that because you know the price that had to be paid in order for you to get that kidney," he told CBC's Maritime Noon. "It's a gift that I will treasure, believe me.

"On your birthday you get the odd card, but when someone donates a vital organ, and you happen to be the recipient, it just takes your breath away."

Why does he think the kidney's Rehtaeh's?

By law, information about an organ donor is confidential, so how did Dupuis come to believe the kidney he received was Rehtaeh's?

Dupuis said his wife was on the sixth floor of Halifax's Victoria General Hospital, near the nurses station, when they sent him to the operating room on the tenth floor. Dupuis said his wife overheard the nurses say the kidney was on its way to the operating room and heard the name "Rehtaeh."

"When I came out of the anesthesia, she leaned over to me and whispered to me, 'I think you got one of Rehtaeh's kidneys,'" he said.

"Because we had been following the news, I just sort of brushed that off by saying that's just not possible."

Dupuis said just as he was preparing to leave the hospital to go back to Fredericton, he spoke to the doctor, who let it slip that the organ had come from a "young girl."

"I looked at him square in the face and said, 'It was Rehtaeh Parsons, wasn't it?' He didn't say yes, he didn't say no, he just nodded in a yes fashion."

A 'most humbling' experience

Shortly after getting back home, Dupuis reached out to Rehtaeh's parents, Leah Parsons and Glen Canning. He said they've been corresponding ever since.

Glen Canning and Leah Parsons, parents of Rehtaeh Parsons, helped educate people about cyberbullying after her death. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press)

Rehtaeh's death raised hard questions about the justice system, sexual violence, privacy and the role of social media.

Dupuis hopes Rehtaeh's family can take some comfort in knowing that her death helped others.

"Knowing what Glen and Leah [and the rest of her family], what they had to go through … even to make that decision or go through that process as you're dealing with the loss of your eldest daughter, that's just simply amazing," he said.

"It's one of the most humbling experiences I've ever had."

Dupuis said receiving the kidney saved his life and that it has a special meaning because of who he believes he received it from.

"When I get up in the morning, I celebrate every day. I celebrate every day of life that I've been able to have as a result of the kidney transplant," said Dupuis.

"I'm the caretaker of Rehtaeh's kidney, that's the way I look at it. I have a special job that I have been assigned and I'm going to do my very best to make sure I treat that kidney well because that saved my life."