Jacob Colella Kidney Transplant

Jacob Colella is finishing up his sophomore year at Northwest Rankin High School.  He is a typical teenager that loves baseball and his jeep!  Jacob is on the the JV baseball team at his school.

Jacob was diagnosed with Alports Syndrome at 5 years of age.  Alport syndrome is a kidney disease, in which a kidney transplant is inevitable.  

Since the age of 5 Jacob has been on blood pressure medicine, trying to maintain his kidney function.  This last year has been a rough one for him.  In March, Jacob's kidney function dropped severely (currently at 10%).   His body is poisoning itself from the inside out.  He is on numerous medicines to try and rid his body of these toxins and keep him from having to go on dialysis.  His doctors have deemed him worthy of a kidney transplant and are in the process of matching a donor.  Jacob's father is being tested to see if he can donate a kidney to Jacob.  

I am starting this GoFundMe for Jacob to help cover the out of pocket expenses.  Jacob is my son's best friend and I can't imagine the stress and worry of what this family is going through.  Jacob's mother Gwen, has met with the transplant team and hospital and she was told the costs could be upwards to 30K.   His doctors and hospital are at Tulane Medical Center.  With the past trips and the future extended stays these expenses will add up quickly.   Gwen is a small business owner and will have to count on family to keep things running at her business while she takes care of Jacob.

Our community will always rally around people in need.  We are always willing to help.  I pray you will do whatever you can to help this family.  Helping can be done by donating or sharing this on your social media, or both.  I would like nothing more than to take the worry of expenses away from this family and let them concentrate on getting Jacob well!