AVON, Conn. -- Three people -- all heroines in their own way -- are helping each other through illness.

Linda Krebs has had diabetes since she was 4.

"It's been hell my whole life," she said. "When I was 21, I started losing my eyesight, and about four years ago, I lost what remaining eyesight I have."

Krebs had one child, Shawna, who's now in the ninth grade. While Shawna was born completely healthy, Krebs recalled the time she was carrying her daughter.

"The pregnancy was just horrible; I spent most of the time in the hospital," Krebs said.

Krebs recalled how she wanted another child, but had second thoughts.

"I felt it wasn't fair to my daughter to get pregnant again, so we decided to adopt," Krebs said. "When we decided to adopt, we decided to adopt a special needs child and I met David and just fell in love with him immediately."

David was 4 months old at the time of the adoption.

"We realized there was something wrong with him," Krebs said. "We thought he was going to be a little slow, but we never realized he would not walk and not talk.

At the age of 2, David was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. To this mom, that made no difference.

"When you meet him, I mean, everyone falls in love with him. He's just got the greatest personality and disposition," Krebs said.

David, who's now 9, needs his hero -- his mother -- who is now in need herself: She eeds a new pancreas.

Diabetes Damages Blind Mother's Body

"It's done so much damage to my kidneys that I need new kidneys," Krebs said. "I'm going for the pancreas so that I won't be a diabetic anymore, so hopefully, I won't have any further damage to my body."

This is where Krebs' sister, Leslie Obrizzo, comes in. Once a donor pancreas becomes available, Obrizzo will also head to the hospital to make her own life-saving donation.

"I'm going to be giving Linda my kidney," Obrizzo said. "She needs a kidney, so since I'm her sister, I'm more than willing to give it to her. ... I'm perfectly healthy, I've had all the tests and I'm a perfect match for Linda."

While the procedure is far from easy, it doesn't discourage Obrizzo.

"I would do whatever I could to help her with the diabetes, and whatever I could give her, I would give her," Obrizzo said. "We'll both be in the hospital for a little while and then we'll both be fine. She'll have a new pancreas and a new kidney and I'll be fine with just one kidney."

Community Pours Its Love Into Krebs Family

More than a dozen people from the community made sure Eyewitness News knows how special Krebs is.

Krebs' and Obrizzo's mother, Suzanne Strecker -- lovingly referred to as "Gobby" by her grandchildren -- enjoys picking up David from his school bus stop.

"David is very happy, he doesn't seem to envy anybody else, he just goes ahead and does whatever he can do," Strecker said.

David has definitely been influenced by his grandmother, who has the same great attitude. Almost every day, she comes to his home to help care for him, and if she's not busy looking after him, chances are she's helping Krebs.

"What she does for me, just me, she helps with the laundry, she helps with cooking, she helps with cleaning," Krebs said. "Without her, I don't know what I would do."

"We all think she's a hero, and everyone at Pine Grove School, where David attends, her church, not only does she do things for her family, for the community, also for her church," said Sue Trivella, a para-professional.

"I've known her for 25 years. ... Whenever anything comes up, do we need someone to teach an adult bible class? We'll ask Suzanne, (and she'll say,) 'Sure, I can do that,'" said Cynthia Yee, a pastor of the Avon Congregational Church.

Despite the accolades, Strecker remains very modest.

"A hero is someone who has done something more than I have done," she said. "I just do what I think I'm supposed to do every day and that's it. I guess my philosophy is that life has a purpose and we're given all kinds of opportunities to handle whatever comes along. And, I think, God expects you to the best you can."

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