A South Florida family is looking for a living kidney donor to provide an organ for one of their children, but they have also created a project that could help other children in the same situation.
It’s JP, just like any other kid looking at these images; However, he faces a challenge: he suffers from end-stage renal disease. And it’s also a challenge for the family.
“JP’s” mom Jessica Ortiz says:
“He’s hooked up to a machine for 12 hours a day. We try to do it at night, so the baby feels more normal in his crib; but he doesn’t sleep for 12 hours. So he’s there all the time, trapped , in your cradle.”
She’s been on the transplant list for two years, but the kidney she needs hasn’t arrived yet.
“The problem with the list is that it is age-wise, size-wise. They have to find a kidney that is perfect for the baby and two years ago we were on the list and still had no luck with that,” Ortiz says.
30% of donated kidneys in the United States come from living donors: that is, a living person who decides to donate one of their kidneys. Compared to a kidney from a deceased donor, an organ transplant from a living person has a better chance of success.
And so these parents created the Living Donor Project for their son and other children in the same situation.
John Paul Medina II, father of “JP”, says:
The mission of the Living Donor Project is to help children like my son find a living kidney donor. you can go to about us page
Livingdonorproject.org, and there you can see a video of “JP” filling out the form, which is the first part so we can see if the person is a suitable candidate.
In a philanthropic gesture, over 500 people have filled out the form, but finding the most suitable donor is no easy task when only 3 final candidates have to be presented at the transplant centre.
Medina says, “It cannot be a person like me, I am 5, 11 years old. It must be too small for the kidney to fit in the child’s body.”
And so through their platform, the “Living Donors” project, these parents continue their search for the kidney their son will need to thrive.
“JP’s” family hopes that the “Living Donor” project can also help other children who are in their situation, to give them a better quality of life and new hope. We’ll be pending. I’m Harold Santana. Now we go back to the studio with you.
