WATCH: An emotional plea from a B.C. mother and grandmother trying to save their son and grandson’s life. Catherine Urquhart reports.
VANCOUVER – A B.C. family is spending the day on the streets of Vancouver, hoping to find a kidney donor for their son, Anthony.
Mom, Sophie Charalambides, said this is something her mother felt had to be done to try and find a donor. “We’ve had several attempts to try and find him a kidney,” she said. “A couple of social media campaigns, a few news stories, we’ve had several people get tested for him. We’ve had 14 people actually be tested and none of them were a match.”
“So we’re hoping somebody walking by, some altruistic donor may perhaps pick up one of these forms, give a call and maybe that will be the one. We’ve got nothing else to lose and maybe a kidney to gain.”
Anthony was diagnosed with kidney disease when he was 13 years old. When he was 17, Sophie donated her kidney but it only lasted three months. “The kidney twisted in his body,” she said. “And that was a side effect of putting an adult-sized kidney into a 17-year-old.”
Anthony’s body did not have enough space for the kidney. He is now 24 and has been on dialysis ever since.
“He does dialysis every second day for five hours,” said Sophie. “He has constant complications, he has a fistula that sometimes needs repairing.”
She said her son can’t make plans and can’t leave his home for more than two days due to treatment.
“Right now, life’s on hold,” she said.
For further information and to inquire about donating a kidney, email getanthonyakidney@outlook.com. Information on organ donation can be found at the BC Transplant website.
Comments