Man places roadway signs in Va., Pennsylvania seeking kidney donor for ailing wife
SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. - More than 100,000 people are waiting for a life-saving kidney transplant in the United States right now, and nearly 1,800 of those are here in the D.C. region.
Generally, family and friends are the ones who step in as donors. But last year, 184 people anonymously donated a kidney to complete strangers.
But how do you find these good Samaritans?
Glenn Millis is taking his plea for a life-saving kidney transplant for his wife to the streets in the form of road signs. He has placed 70 signs along roads in Virginia and Pennsylvania so far. He has created a website too.
It is like he has placed love letters to his wife of 22 years up and down the highway.
"I do love my wife and that's why they are there because they are the way I am trying to save her life," Millis said.
Glenn's wife, Ana, is on dialysis three days a week, but was a bit embarrassed when she learned her husband was taking his plea public.
"She may be mortified, but I was terrified of losing her," said Millis. "Still am. So we are asking. I am asking."
Ana is brought to tears now when she talks about how moved she is by her husband's grand gesture.
"It's beautiful," Ana Rendich said. "It is what family is about. He is taking care of his family."
Calls are coming in and while they haven't found Ana's match yet, the couple remains hopeful. They say that is because they have seen a miracle before.
Ana has suffered from kidney disease since she was a teenager, and several years ago, a stranger from Arkansas donated a kidney to her after reading about her in a church bulletin. That gift worked well for years until it failed.
Ana's particular situation gives her only a two percent chance of finding a match now, but her husband said a lot of people are now driving by these signs, and they are just looking for one.
"You can't lose hope, otherwise you stop," Millis said. "I'm not going to stop. I will keep going as long as I have to."
Before she found her donor a few years ago, another stranger stepped forward to help Ana, but that man wasn't compatible for her, so he donated to a different stranger. That act triggered an incredible eight-way domino kidney transplant.
This time around, several people who have called this couple have already been tested to be donors, and Ana and Glenn said they hope at the very least they are raising awareness about the need for organ donation.
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