<b>Job seeker</b> uses plight to encourage organ donation - Donate Life <b>...</b>
Donate Life Organ and Tissue Donation Blog (sm) #navbar-iframe { display:block }skip to main | skip to sidebar January 18,2011 - - - - 110,112 AMERICAN ARE CANDIDATES ON THE UNOS TRANSPLANT WAIT LIST 87,691 waiting for a kidney 16,103 waiting for a lung 1,422 waiting for a pancreas 2,217 waiting for a Kidney-Pancreas 3,190 waiting for a heart 1,794 waiting for a lung 69 waiting for a heart-lung 263 waiting for small bowel One organ donor has the opportunity to save up to 8 lives One tissue donor has the opportunity to save and -or enhance the lives of 50 or more individuals You have the power to SAVE Lives by becoming an organ, eye and tissue donor Monday, February 28, 2011 Job seeker uses plight to encourage organ donations Man wants work, but can’t find it because he’s on dialysis By MELISSA HAYES/The Lufkin Daily NewsBryan Wells was born two months premature. He had his first kidney transplant at age 13, thanks to a donation from his own father. He’s now on dialysis three days a week as he waits on the Baylor Medical Center donor list for a new kidney. He’s been on that list for six years now.
Wells doesn’t want pity for his lot in life. He wants a job.
With an associate’s degree in Christian Studies and a bachelor’s degree in counseling, Wells said finding a job in Lufkin has been challenging.
“Three days a week I have my dialysis, and then I go home and look through the paper to find a job and just be a normal person like everyone else,” Wells said. “(During job interviews) everything is going great until I say I’m on dialysis, and then they say they’ll call me back and they never do. One guy told me I was a liability because of the dialysis. It’s not that I’m not a hard worker or that I’m not going to give 100 percent. It’s the dialysis.”
Wells moved to Lufkin to be near his father. After searching for a place to live, he came across Glenda Davis and her husband, who owned a rental house.
“It wasn’t five minutes before I wanted to fill out the paperwork because it was the best place I had seen,” Wells said. “I couldn’t have asked for better landlords. They really take care of me.”
Davis considers the 30-year-old man as one of her own.
“I think the Lord sends people like this to me,” Davis said. “I have taken him under my wing. My heart went out to him. I know a good person when I see one. Ever since I have known him, he has struggled to find a job. The doors keep getting closed. When I see someone who wants to work and can work, that makes me want to help.”
Wells doesn’t want a handout, but he also knows his limitations. The self-proclaimed “people person” enjoys working with the elderly and children. He also volunteers at the DaVita clinic, where he receives his treatments, as a patient advocate and helping with a newsletter.
“I have volunteered as a chaplain in two or three retirement homes,” Wells said. “I would like to find something to help people and show them there is hope out there.”
The landlord and her renter have become extremely close over the past several months. She nags him as a mother would, and their playful banter alludes to a comfortable relationship. They both wholeheartedly agree that there’s nothing more important than being an organ donor.
They want to spread the word about the gift of life during National Donor Awareness month. “There’s no better gift you could give and no better feeling than for someone else to have life,” Davis said.
In the meantime, Wells said, he will continue to read and search through the newspaper for a job and through the Bible for motivation.
“What keeps me going is my church and Bible,” Wells said. “I open my Bible and know that God is in control.”Labels:Bryan Wells,Dialysis,Kidney TransplantPosted byGlenn Matsuki0COMMENTS: Post a CommentNewer PostOlder PostHomeSubscribe to:Post Comments (Atom)SEARCH OUR BLOGLoading... #uds-searchControl .gs-result .gs-title, #uds-searchControl .gs-result .gs-title *, #uds-searchControl .gsc-results .gsc-trailing-more-results, #uds-searchControl .gsc-results .gsc-trailing-more-results * { color:#0066cc; } #uds-searchControl .gs-result .gs-title a:visited, #uds-searchControl .gs-result .gs-title a:visited * { color:#999999; } #uds-searchControl .gs-relativePublishedDate, #uds-searchControl .gs-publishedDate { color: #cc0f00; } #uds-searchControl .gs-result a.gs-visibleUrl, #uds-searchControl .gs-result .gs-visibleUrl { color: #cc6600; } #uds-searchControl .gsc-results { border-color: #ffcf9f; background-color: #ffffff; } #uds-searchControl .gsc-tabhActive { border-color: #ffcf9f; border-top-color: #cc6600; background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; } #uds-searchControl .gsc-tabhInactive { border-color: #ffcf9f; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; } #uds-searchClearResults { border-color: #ffcf9f; } #uds-searchClearResults:hover { border-color: #cc6600; } #uds-searchControl .gsc-cursor-page { color: #0066cc; } #uds-searchControl .gsc-cursor-current-page { color: #333333; } DONATE LIFE RUN/WALK VIDEO - CLICK ON RUN/WALK LOGO BELOW REGISTER TODAYJOIN US ON APRIL 30,2011 Register now, click on logo above for more info & registration. Benefiting Donate Life CaliforniaCALIFORNIA RESIDENTS Donate Life Organ Donation Blog is taking part in a California Donor Registry Drive. Please register to be a donor TODAY (click on logo)2011 Donate Life Kingdom Day Float2011 CALENDAR OF EVENTS (click on link for more information)FEB 27 - MAR 4, 2011 WINTER NATIONAL TRANSPLANT GAMES, Jackson Hole, WYMARCH 2011 KIDNEY HEALTH MONTHMARCH 11, WORLD KIDNEY DAYMAR 11-12, 2011 SHARE THE BEAT, San Francsco APRIL 2011 NATIONAL DONATE LIFE MONTHAPRIL 2011 NATIONAL DONATE LIFE FLAGS ACROSS AMERICAAPRIL 2, NKF PHOENIX KIDNEY WALK, Phoenix, AZAPRIL 16, NATIONAL HEALTHCARE DECISIONS DAYAPRIL 16, ORGAN ORANGE-1% MARATHON, WisconsinAPRIL 19, KATIE RIDE FOR LIFE, Amelia Island, FloridaAPRIL 30, 2010, DONATE LIFE RUN/WALK, Fullerton, CAJUN 17-24, WORLD TRANSPLANT GAMES, Goteburg, SwedenJULY 9, 2011, DASH FOR DONATION (LifeLine of Ohio), Columbus, Ohio TRANSPLANT EXPERIENCE Complete Resource for Patients UNITED STATES ORGAN WAIT LIST (CANDIDATES) January 18, 2011TOTAL CANDIDATES 110,112KIDNEY: 87,691LIVER: 16,103PANCREAS: 1,420KIDNEY/ PANCREAS: 2,217HEART: 3,190LUNG: 1,794HEART/LUNG: 69INTESTINE: 263SOURCE: UNOS data accessed Jan 18, 2011WHAT YOU CAN DO TO SAVE LIVES1. Register with your State's organ & tissue donor registry. To learn how: www.organdonor.gov2. Speak with your family, friends and colleagues about your decision to be a donor.3. Encourage your workplace ,church, schools, neighborhood organizations, and city to adopt donation as a mission.4. Encourage your elected officials to support donation legislation.5. Speak at your local High School, College or University. Ask them to participate in the National Donation Campus Challenge. www.organdonor/campus.gov6. Participate in events sponsored by your local organ procurement organization.ONE organ donor can SAVE the lives of up to 8 peopleONE tissue donor can SAVE / ENHANCE the lives of up to 50 people. Help our returning solders from Iraq and Afghanistan who require tissue for reconstructive surgeryPLEASE GO TO DONATE LIFE LINKS BELOW TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW TO BECOME A DONOR IN YOUR STATE.HONOR YOUR LIVING DONOR "Starfish" Donor Appreciation Award from Living Kidney Donors Network. The award is a handblown glass starfish, approx 6 inches long. Please click on picture above to learn how to order your donor appreciation award. "THERE IS NO GREATER JOY OR GREATER REWARD THAN TO MAKE A FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE IN SOMEONE'S LIFE."PLEASE SUPPORT | OVER 115,000 VIEWS MAY 1 2010-FEB 25,2011 | Blog Est. April 2009 SUBSCRIBE TO YOUR BLOGPosts Atom PostsComments Atom CommentsJOIN US ON TWITTER 2011 DONATE LIFE ROSE PARADE "SEIZE THE DAY" JOURNEY2011 Astellas "Ride of a Lifetime" Float Riders Announced MEET THE 2011 ROSE PARADE FLOAT RIDERSMEET THE 2011 FLORAGRAPH HONOREES
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