A local man on a mission to find a new kidney for his wife has turned to the power of a public advertisement to save his wife’s life.
Paul Savuto launched the “1 Kidney 4 Deb” campaign almost one year ago. Now, he and his wife, Deb, are hoping a series of ads on MBTA trains and buses will help find a kidney donor.
Deb has a rare genetic disease called Alport syndrome. Her kidneys began to fail in 2002 and, at the time, her husband stepped up, donating his kidney.
“Not only has my husband saved my life once, I have him as an advocate,” Deb said.
Now, though, the kidney Paul donated needs to be replaced.
Deb said the lifespan for a living kidney is anywhere from 12 to 21 years. So, the couple is hoping MBTA commuters can help.
“Once we determined that we weren’t going to have the opportunity to keep it within the family as it were, we started looking at social media and other outlets to get the word out so that Deb could get another kidney,” Paul said.
The couple purchased 120 advertisements for the month of July. On each ad, any generous T rider interested can scan a QR code to be directed to the National Kidney Donor Association.
Even if an interested donor isn’t the best match for Deb, organizations like the National Kidney Registry will pair the donor with another patient in need.
In return, Deb will get a voucher to be paired with a better fit.
“There’s 100,000 Americans waiting for a kidney right now, so that’s what our hope would be is that this type of publicity, advertisement will bring a donor to us and maybe, perhaps to many others and that would be a wonderful thing,” Paul said.
If you don’t catch the poster on your T ride, you can head to www.1kidney4deb.com.
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