A transplant is the last option for people who suffer from a small intestine that doesn't work.

The tube helps the body digest and absorb nutrients in food. Without it, many of the organs in the body die.

Relying on donors from the dead means long waiting lists, so doctors are turning to the living for help.

Leslie Richter's in for a follow-up two months after life-saving surgery. Her journey started with stomach pains that turned into a frightening discovery -- her small intestine was twisted, cutting off blood flow.

"My intestine was completely necrotic and black, and at that time they told my husband that I wasn't going to make it," Leslie says.

"Had this happened three to five years ago, I would have lost her," says Eric Richter, Leslie's husband.

Leslie needed an intestine transplant. Instead of turning to a deceased donor, surgeons turned to Leslie's sister, a better match.

In a nine-hour surgery, Dr. Rainer Gruessner took part of her sister's intestine and attached it to what was left of Leslie's organ.

"We removed about six of the 25 to 26 feet of bowel that the sister has and gave that to Leslie, so that Leslie has about six feet of small bowel, maybe seven feet with her remaining small bowel," says Dr. Gruessner, Chief of Transplantation at the University of Arizona.

A healthy person can live comfortably with only two to three feet of their small intestine.

Studies show living donor organs last about twice as long as deceased donor organs.

"It has saved my life," says Leslie. "I don't know how people live like this."

After eight months on only IV nutrition, Leslie is able to eat again, and getting a little stronger every day.

"It's just amazing, and it's just brought me a new life," says Leslie.

Thanks to her sister, and her surgery, Leslie has a second chance.

Though Dr. Gruessner says the survival rate is 70 to 80 percent, intestinal transplant is still considered risky and is only available at a handful of U.S. medical centers.