Malia May prays every day for the man who saved her life.

She wasn't supposed to know who her organ donor was, as such things are usually not revealed for a year after the transplant. But she figured it out right away when doctors told her he was a young man visiting from North Carolina and she saw the news reports about what happened.

This week will make one year since 34-year-old Christopher Reuther died after being assaulted at Zablan Beach Park in Nanakuli. He was in Hawai'i to visit the University of Hawai'i law school, where he was considering studying environmental law. His sudden, violent death came as a horrible shock to his family.

Reuther's mother, Judy Wilson, flew to Hawai'i from North Carolina to be with her son one last time. She had to sign consent forms for the organ donation, but she knew it was what her son wanted.

"He had already signed up to be an organ donor when he first got his driver's license," Wilson said. "He was the most caring person. He gave blood all the time. I already knew his wishes."

At least five people received organs or tissue from Reuther. May received his pancreas and one kidney.

May was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 3. The diabetes brought complications and hardship — she lost her sight in one eye, she couldn't have children, she suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia.

Still, she was able to work and has been at First Hawaiian Bank for 27 years. After a lifetime of insulin shots and the many health problems related to the disease, her kidneys gave out, and she was on dialysis three hours at a time, three days a week.

She was told the wait for an organ donor could be years. She had been on dialysis for two months when she got the call.

"The doctor who did the transplant said the minute he put in the organs, they started working," May said. "It was like a perfect fit."

Reuther's organs did more than save her, they cured her. She no longer takes insulin, no longer has diabetes. Malia May is 44 years old and had her first taste of a Liliha Bakery Coco Puff.

"In three months, I was back at work. No more diabetes, no high blood pressure, my cholesterol was down," May said. "I have energy to do things that I never could do before. It is a new life for me."

The man accused in Reuther's death, Less Schnabel Jr. of Nanakuli, has been charged with manslaughter and is free on bond while awaiting trial.

Wilson is struggling with her grief as she too waits for the trial. She and May have written letters back and forth and talked, and cried, on the phone several times.

"She's been a godsend," Wilson said. "I love her. She's become a dear friend."

"I never forget the fact that her son died and saved my life," May said. "She knows how much I understand what his gift means."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.