CECIL, Ohio – Four years ago, David Rush was diagnosed with kidney failure, and he needs a transplant. So, instead of waiting around for the donor center to call he’s taking matters into his own hands.
We usually see things for sale in the newspaper classifieds section like furniture or even a house. Rush published an ad in that section looking for a kidney.
“It’s something,” Rush said. “It’s doing something anyway instead of sitting here waiting.”
For four years 77-year-old Rush of Cecil, Ohio has waited.
“[The doctors] told me three to five years [for a transplant], and you don’t think about it until four years have passed and you wonder what’s going on,” Rush said.
Rush’s kidney surgeon said he’d have a better shot with a live donor. So, Rush got creative.
“[The doctor] even told me if you have to stand on the street corner with a sign, which I’m not going to do that,” Rush said. “So, that’s why I placed it in the newspapers.”
Rush advertised his need for a kidney in an ad titled ‘Kidney Needed!’ in six newspapers in Ohio and Indiana including Fort Wayne’s Journal Gazette and News Sentinel. The ad says he needs a donor between 18 and 65 years old with either O positive or O negative blood all expenses paid.
“I’ve gotten a few responses none have really worked out,” Rush said. “A couple of them have wanted paid, and I know that’s illegal.”
Rush and his wife live active lives. They collect and sell antiques and run the Vagabond Village, a restaurant that’s been in the family for 65 years. The doctor said Rush isn’t far from dialysis which leaves a lot of questions marks on what kind of life he could lead if that happens.
Rush said he still has a lot of life to live.
“I have eight grandchildren, and I’d like to see them grow up.”
If you would like to help you can call Rush at 419-899-2232 or anonymously call the Lutheran Transplant Center at 260-435-6211 and tell them you’d like to help David Rush.
