Hello, my name is Cristal Helton and I am raising funds for my brother Cory Cooper. He is only 36 years old and is in renal failure. He goes to dialysis three times a week and has been on it for almost 3 years now. He is still on the transplant list. Every day I notice him giving up hope a little more. He used to work as a tree man and worked long days outside and was a hard worker. He enjoyed work. He would sometimes go away on storm work and help with communities that were damaged due to hurricanes, tornadoes, and such. When he got sick, it has made him unable to work. He stays active and walks every day. He even mows the grass and does various activities for my mom around the house even after a day at dialysis.

As of late, I’ve heard him say often that he’s not going to live to be much older, or we were talking about his girlfriend being in her sixties and he said he will already be gone. Recently, my stepdad unexpectedly passed away in a surgery getting his left kidney removed, and he died in surgery. That has now scared my brother to even get a kidney. He never has a day where he feels good. He’s started to hurt in his bones and whole body every day. We have tried multiple ways of getting it out there for him to get a kidney donated from a live donor, but we haven’t even got one inquiry. I set it up so I would get the emails, and he always asks me if anyone has responded, and I have to tell him no.

He lives with my mom, who recently quit her job to take care of her mother, who is also living with them. My brother contributed to the bills and is unable to due to not being able to work. He has sold his card collection and pretty much everything he owns just to have money and not have to ask my mom to borrow. He can’t even just go get himself something to eat out. He is very depressed, and I hate seeing him this way. My brother has had a rough life with learning disabilities and mental health issues. He was bullied in school and was abused most of his life by various males in our life. I feel like his life is being taken from him, and it hurts me so bad.

My mom is trying to take care of everyone, and since my stepdad unexpectedly passed away, he was a major contributor to the bills. Things have been very rough for my family. My brother also has medical bills he cannot keep up with. I just want to ease the burden and for my brother to get to live his life the best he can. Any donation helps, and my family would be eternally grateful, and my brother will know there are still kind people out there.