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For the past two years, Antonio Calderon has been connecting a surgical tube in his body every night to his home dialysis machine.
The process takes nine hours and helps him flush out his kidneys. He hopes that a kidney donor who fits his blood type could help put an end to the long process.
"It would be amazing not to have that tube in my belly and not having all this equipment that I have to use all the time," Calderon said.
Calderon was diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a kidney disease almost 10 years ago, but in the past two years, his condition has worsened, forcing him to undergo daily dialysis and a long list of waiting for a kidney transplant.
"If I go out with friends and I have work the next day, I have to make sure I'm home with enough time to prepare and disconnect in the morning and spend the nine hours. It's a real disappointment, but it keeps me alive, "Calderon said.
It could take almost a decade for Calderon to find a match because of his positive O blood group. Patients whose blood type is O positive have the longest waiting time for transplant waiting, since the donor must have the same blood group to match, according to Kidney.org.
That's why Calderon's friends, like Ilya Polyakov, decided he needed to find a faster way to help his friend recover. Polyakov has raised more than $ 5,000 to create a large poster asking potential donors to call or email in the hope of finding a match.
"I felt very helpless when I saw him struggling with that and being unable to do anything. I tried to be a donor and I failed. So it's a question of the type "What can we do to help solve this problem?" Said Polyakov.
Calderon said the support of the people across the country and his friends had been extraordinary.
"It's amazing, it's something, if not for donating kidney, I hope everyone can meet their friends and do something so meaningful like this," said Calderon.
Until now, the billboard has allowed Calderon to be in touch with dozens of donors wishing to help. The selection procedure will be long, but Calderon hopes that at least one person will be his partner.
Calderon asks anyone wishing to become a donor to send an email to [email protected] or to call 424-239-9006.
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