LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Right now in Kentucky, hundreds of people are waiting for a life-changing organ donation and one man's desperation has him looking for the gift of life through an advertisement.
In Kentucky, a thousand people are hoping and praying for an organ transplant.
"Heart, liver, kidneys, lungs," Amber McGuire, with the Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates listed. She says 700 of those people are waiting for a kidney.
"It changes from organ to organ, specifically for kidneys, the average wait is 4-5 years," McGuire added.
Organs mainly come from donors who pass away.
"The sad part about organ donation is that a life is lost, but so many lives are gained and touched through miracle of transplantation," she said.
One local man is determined to find a living donor.
"He must be really desperate. Not just because of this ad," McGuire added.
David Hall, 54, gets his toxic blood pumped out -- and fresh blood pumped in three times a week for hours at a time. He's been going through dialysis for more than six years, and it shows on his arms. Large masses that look like knotted cysts under his arms, show where he's been prodded.
"Hitting with a needle, continuous sticking with the needle," Hall explained.
Hall took an ad out in the Southeast Outlook -- a church newspaper that reaches thousands of people.
"Whatever it takes. I need to have one," Hall said. "It's not I want to, it's I have to."
A complication as a baby left him with kidney problems that did not flare up until later in life. A transplant in 2000 was successful, but failed in 2008.
"Shortness of breath, extreme tiredness, just you feel like crap," said Hall.
Dialysis keeps him living, but it is no way of life. He can take a kidney from someone with blood types of either A Positive or Negative, or O Positive or Negative.
To the person who may be willing to help, Hall said, "You'd be a godsend, you'd be an incredible person that can do that. But you would be changing the life of someone who is honored. It's not just giving a gift you're changing a life."
"Organ donation is a very personal and private decision, but it's a decision that can impact so many lives in a positive way," said McGuire. "It only takes one person to save 50 lives."
To learn more about being an organ and tissue donor, click here: donatelifeky.org
For information on being a living donor, browse these sites:
To help David Hall, you can call him directly at (502) 708-5601.
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