Man Wears Sandwich Board To Find Kidney For Wife

Larry Swilling is so dedicated to his wife of 59 years that he walks down the streets with a sandwich board, begging people to help him find a kidney for her.

His wife, Jimmie Sue, has needed a kidney for about a year and the 78-year-old man will stop at nothing to find one for her. He has gotten responses from all over the world, but, so far, none of the calls have produced the necessary kidney.

Swilling even walked 250 miles around South Carolina last September, which led to his knee surgery. However, that did not stop his quest to find her a kidney.

“She’s my everything. We’ve been married 57 years. She’s my life,” he said.

The 76-year-old woman needs a donor with O+ blood, so Swilling was very disappointed when he found out he could not be the donor.

“I was hoping it would be me,” Shilling said. “I’m in good shape. But I’m A+. We have three kids – two boys and a daughter, and they’re all A+.”

Jimmie Sue was born with only one kidney and has to go to dialysis twice a week. Her medicine costs a whopping $4,400 a month.

“I’m 78 years old, but I still work, I still have to,” Swilling said. “We’re just hoping every day, every minute, we get the call to head to Charleston for a transplant.”

Sara Parker, a nurse at MUSC’s transplant center said that getting an organ donated is a long and complicated process. She said that the kidney must match the patient’s blood type and the patient must be in good physical health.

However, Parker said that the transplant center is speaking with a promising candidate from California who meets all the preliminary requirements.

What do you think of Swilling’s quest to find his wife a kidney?

[Image via New York Daily News]