Palm Harbor woman searches for kidney donor: 'You would literally be saving my life'
Bay Area woman hoping for kidney donor
One woman in Palm Harbor who needs a kidney transplant is hoping for a Christmas miracle. FOX 13's Kylie Jones reports.
PALM HARBOR, Fla. - One woman in Palm Harbor who needs a kidney transplant is hoping for a Christmas miracle.
Joanna Collins has been on the kidney transplant list for almost a year.
What we know:
Collins has been living with Alport Syndrome and was diagnosed with stage four of the disease in November 2024.
"I have Alport's, which is a genetic kidney disease, makes my kidney function decrease at a greater rate than other people," she said. "So, I'm at about a 12% kidney function right now."
Collins was put on the transplant list at Tampa General Hospital in February.
Courtesy: Joanna Collins
When she's not working full-time, Collins spends eight hours a day on at-home dialysis.
"It has become your life, but it is literally to save your life," she said. "I mean it's not, you don't have a choice. I mean, you just kind of have to power through it, but it can be super frustrating, you know?"
Collins' family and friends have gotten tested to become a donor, but none of them have been a match.
Finding a living donor
The backstory:
Over the last year, she and her family have taken matters into their own hands to try to find a living donor.
"Once you go through your family and your friends, who's left?" she said. "So, at this point, both my parents are retired, and it's their full-time job to just take cards and flyers into businesses."
Collins has flyers, business cards and even a billboard near I-275 and I-4 in Tampa.
Her family has also started a website, Hero 4 Jo, to share her story and try to spread the word about her need for a donor.
What they're saying:
Collins says 76 people have gotten tested to become a donor. She says only one person has made it through all the testing, but didn't go through with the procedure.
As the days pass without a match for Collins, dialysis takes a toll, and her kidneys continue to deteriorate.
"We're a Gold Star Family," she said. "My brother was killed in Iraq in 2007, so my parents have already lost one child. I certainly don't want them to lose another."
Courtesy: Joanna Collins
Collins says finding a living donor would help her be able to live her life again.
"You would literally be saving my life," she said. "It is not just life changing, it's lifesaving."
Courtesy: Joanna Collins
Collins is also on the transplant list at the Dallas-Ft. Worth Medical Center and will soon be on the list in Toledo, Ohio.
Big picture view:
Doctors at Tampa General Hospital say there are about 100,000 people nationwide on the transplant list, waiting for a deceased donor.
"The need continuously outpaces the demand," Dr. Pranjal Jain, a transplant nephrologist at TGH and partner at Florida Kidney Physicians said.
Dr. Jain says about 30,000 people get off the transplant list every year.
He says there are only about 5,000 living donors a year.
Pictured: Tampa General Hospital.
He says a kidney from a deceased donor lasts about 10 to 12 years, but a kidney from a living donor lasts about two to three times as long.
"Once you get that kidney, you take care of it, it can last you 20, 30, 40 years," Jain said.
Jain says anyone over 18 years old can become a donor.
"The usual hospital stay is a day or two, recovery is within two weeks," he said. "You know, you are checked out thoroughly before you donate a kidney. And even if there is an iota of doubt in the team's mind, we do not take the kidney. You have the right to say no until the very last day, no questions asked.
You can find more information about Collins' story and how to become a donor here.
The Source: FOX 13's Kylie Jones gathered this information from a patient looking for a kidney donor and a doctor at TGH.