Stephen Durrough's Kidney Fund
Thanks for letting me bend your ear...
This is for Stephen Durrough, from Villa Rica, Georgia. Stephen is in need of a kidney transplant. There are many that have offered to be a part of this journey with him by being a donor, the problem lies in the fact that most insurance companies do not cover the costs associated with the donor and their recovery. Stephen is a humble person, so I will brief you on his story:
For 17 years Stephen was the normal teenager without a care in the world, until he was going in for early entry for the Army. While going through the normal physical, it was noticed that his urine was darker than normal and was instructed to see a specialist. The specialist, while doing a ultrasound, found that Stephen had been living his life with only one kidney. Even though Stephen still wanted to pursue a life in the military, with one kidney it was impossible. A year later, about a month before Stephen was to graduate from high school, he began to see the effects of kidney failure due to a rare kidney disease called IGA Neuropathy. IGA Neuropathy effects the kidney's ability to filter toxins from the body. After Stephen was diagnosed, Emory University was able to put the disease in remission (with chemotherapy and heavy doses of medicine) for several years, but in March of 2013 the inevitable happened, Stephen's sole kidney shut down. Since, Stephen has been on Hemo Dialysis 3 times a week for three and a half hours each visit. Dialysis is painful and time consuming, both have left Stephen unemployed and unable to shoulder the costs for himself and his donor.
As I sit here and type this I, myself, realize how lucky the opportunity at life really is. To be healthy is a gift, a gift that is most often taken for granted. While most of us who read this story are worried about that unanswered text, or what shirt we are going to wear to a party tomorrow...there are some that just want the opportunity of tomorrow. Stephen deserves that opportunity and we can make it happen!!