TAMPA, Fla. — More than 90,000 US people are on waiting lists for kidney donors. National Kidney Registration.
A Pinellas County woman is making a life-saving plea to a stranger, hoping to find that match.
Joanna Collins says she will know forever she has some kind of kidney disease. It was confirmed when she was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease called Alport syndrome.
“That means my kidney function decreases at a greater rate than other people's,” said Collins, who has stage 4 liver failure.
“I'm 52 now. I should be around 80% kidney function,” she said. “I'm 12% so I need a port.”
Collins, who was adopted as a toddler, continues his search after about 40 family members and friends were tested to see if it was a match.
“My family and friends, if you exhaust that circle, what else will you do, where are you facing?” she said.
Collins looks at strangers. Collins and her parents “Hero 4 Joe” -This is one of the slogans shared on social media and other materials. Posters, flyers, business cards, websites, and even signs spread the word about donors needed for a life-saving surgery.
Joanna Collins and her parents are working on handouts for Hero 4 Joe. (Spectrum Bay News9)
“There's just one person and more people looking at your story, and you want to be willing to spread the word and take a test and donate. It's a game of numbers. In the end, someone has to match,” Collins said.
Near I-275 and I-4 there is the I-4 interchange heading west. And the family hired mobile billboards to broaden their search.
The owner of the Marathon Billboard says the message is different from the message that normally hits the road at its showcase small businesses.
“This is unique, this is different,” Eric Conte said. “This is very good about helping her. She pays me to have an hour a week to get around 4,500 views a week,” Conte added that he is giving her ads to the extra time in hoping she will find a match.
Those who see the billboard reach out and are being tested to see if it's a match.
Collins, who is set to start dialysis soon, will be on a long list of people waiting for the match.
“We believe that there are over 1,000 people out there who are always waiting for a kidney-only transplant list,” said transplant surgeon Dr. Chloe Wang. TGH Transplant Research Institute.
The TGH Transplant Institute is number one in the nation for transplants by volume, setting a new record for 889 completed transplants in 2024. 500 of them were kidney transplants.
The king says that the need for donors may be met. That means someone isn't a direct match.
“Even if we find someone who can donate on your behalf, we can take that kidney to another program and get it back for you,” Wang said.
Donation Collins says it comes from the kindness of strangers.
“You're saving someone's life. It's literally life changing,” Collins said.
I look forward to her living to the fullest. One thing Collins had to give up as her health was traveling. Her last trip was to New York City. Fully enough, she looks forward to going on a Viking cruise from London to Bergen.
