Marion Barry Headed Home After Transplant

WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) -- DC Councilmember and former Mayor Marion Barry is home tonight, seven days after his kidney transplant. Today we met his donor for the first time; She says her gift was "a no-brainer."

Fans still call him Mayor for life. Frail and moving slowly -- Barry lowered himself carefully into the front seat as he left Howard University Hospital. Fans cheered. "He's coming back!" "He looks nice. He looks real nice."

The woman who donated one of her two kidneys laughed and smiled walking next to his wheelchair. Barry calls the 47 year old single mom a very, very, very good friend. "It is so gratifying to know there's such a person in this world."

Kim Dickens says the benefits far outweighed the risks. "The benefit for me was to be able to have Marion Barry around with the longevity of life and the quality of life. And to be able to continue to fight for the citizens of the District of Columbia."

"I feel better now," said Barry, "just one week later, than I did during the time before. I don't have fluid on my legs, I don't feel lethargy."

Prosecutors say despite the transplant, they'll still ask a judge to send Barry to jail for failing to file his taxes. "We're not talking about that today," said spokeswoman Natalie Williams as the councilman put a finger over his lips.

Eighteen Americans will die waiting for a transplant today. 16-hundred people in the DC alone are waiting for a new kidney. They are disproportionately African American. "We're going to make a crusade of urging people to donate," the 72-year-old Barry told reporters.

You need just one kidney here on earth, says Barry. And you don't need any in heaven.