Support Tom Jordan's Kidney Transplant Journey

For those who don’t know me, I’m Danielle Phillips, and I am raising money to help the love of my life, Tom Jordan.

I first met Tom in 2016; I walked into his bowling pro shop and after explaining what I thought would be a simple ball repair he looked into my eyes and said, “I don’t want to cause any problems, but none of these spans are the same…”

Many of you probably didn’t know that he’s such a poet.

In 2017, after Tom had become my bowling coach, and friend, he had been diagnosed with IGA neuropathy, a degenerative kidney disease. He knew that eventually he would need a kidney transplant, but his doctor said that he had time.

A lot has changed between then and now; in 2019, Tom and I moved in together.

In 2020, we committed to spending our lives together.

On February 21, 2020, Tom stood by my side as my beautiful Angelina was stolen from me by cancer.

We faced a pandemic.

And in March of 2021 we welcomed a child whom her sister wished us to perfectly name- Hope.

And things seemed to be going well; until January of 2023.

We were told that Tom’s kidney function had dropped to the point of being added to the transplant list.

After months of testing, Tom was finally added to the kidney transplant list through Hackensack hospital 3 weeks ago. We were told it could be months, or even years before Tom could receive a new kidney.

Imagine our shock last night when Tom received a call from the hospital that they had a kidney for him.

We weren’t ready in the slightest; we had so many things we had wanted to get put into place before Tom’s transplant, but here we are.

The next few months will be difficult, both physically, emotionally and financially. Tom will be unable to work for 1-2 months as he recovers from surgery and will be immunocompromised to prevent rejection.

While I will do my best to juggle my job, and Tom’s responsibilities at the shop, we will need to make up the shortfall.

We are raising funds to help cover any insurance deductibles, uncovered medical expenses, and premiums, as well as child care expenses, rent and any unforeseen expenses.

Any help during this time is greatly appreciated.

We also owe a debt of gratitude to the parents of Tom’s donor. We ask that you pray for them as they grieve the loss of their 3-year-old child. As parents of a child of similar age, and as a mother who knows the tremendous pain of losing a child, our hearts are breaking for them. And we are forever grateful to them.

Thank you so much for your support, please consider sharing our story.

Tom’s step-son, Aidan, daughters Hope and Jenn and son, Zach.