GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A West Michigan man is seeking the community's help in finding his kidney donor.
Willie Patterson has been on the University of Michigan transplant wait-list since Dec. 31, 2019, and has been on dialysis for seven months.
"I am in stage 5 of kidney failure from years of high blood pressure and diabetes, and I am in need of a transplant," Patterson said.
He's been told he could have to wait for a kidney for three to five years unless someone who is a match volunteers to be his donor.
Patterson, a husband, father, and the engagement director of the non-profit LINC UP in Grand Rapids, shares a spot on the University of Michigan kidney wait-list with thousands of other people.
"There is such a need for testing live donors," Patterson said. "If we can connect residents to testing just to make sure or see if they're a match, we have a better outcome for others in our community that may lose their lives if they don't find a donor in enough time."
He and his wife Tenae say if this story gets even one person to donate their kidney and it's not a perfect match for Willie, then it will be for somebody else.
"I have no doubt in my mind that he will (get a kidney)," said Tenae Patterson. "He has a calling on his life to help the community, to serve in his church, to be an excellent father. He will get a kidney. It's just a matter of God's timing."
If anyone is interested in being tested to potentially donate their kidney to Willie, click here or call the University of Michigan 800-333-9013.
