A New Hampshire truck driver suffering from kidney disease is putting his faith in a sign on his semi truck to bring him the donor organ that he desperately needs.
Fifty-four year old truck driver and father of two Mark Boomhower was diagnosed with kidney disease fifteen years ago and has been waiting on a kidney donor list for years.
It could be several more years before Boomhower reaches the top of the donor list, but he might be running out of time. Boomhower’s kidney function is down to just 12% and he’s facing the prospect of daily dialysis — a treatment that would make trucking next to impossible.
As an alternative to the donor list, recipients can receive kidneys from living donors, but they must find someone who is willing to give up their organ. Boomhower’s wife Tammy isn’t able to donate and his children are not good candidates because of the possibility of inherited kidney disease from their father.
That’s why he and Tammy came up with a plan use his truck as a message board to all of the other drivers stuck in traffic. “What else do people do sitting in traffic for hours? Let them sit there and read this,” Boomhower told NECN.
In large black letters, the back of Boomhower’s trailer now reads:
“Kidney Needed
For Mark
Would You
Share Your Spare?
For More Info How
Email [email protected]”
The couple hopes that a stranger will see the message and come forward to help save Mark’s life — and his trucking career. “He is still working, and we are hoping for a transplant before dialysis becomes necessary,” Tammy told CDLLife.
Normally, a kidney donor would need to be a blood type match for the kidney recipient, but Mark is enrolled in a hospital’s Paired Donation Program, meaning that if he can provide any donor kidney, he will be provided with a kidney from a matched donor.
If you are interested in donating a kidney to Boomhower, you can email [email protected] to learn how.