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'Kidney needed': Florida man creates car decal in desperate search to find donor for wife
A Sanford man said he’s tried everything to advertise for a kidney for his wife with no luck. Now he’s making it as obvious as a decal on the back of his car.
SANFORD, FLA - A Sanford man said he’s tried everything to advertise for a kidney for his wife with no luck. Now he’s making it as obvious as a decal on the back of his car. He’s hoping someone driving down the road sees it and can help.
"The decal says ‘Kidney needed. Please share a spare," John Povlitz said. Povlitz’s wife, Danielle Backes, needs a kidney. It’s a journey that started for her in 2016, one month before her 28th birthday, while she was serving in the United States Army.
"My civilian supervisor was the one who said you need to go to the ER. When I got to the ER, they took my blood and said ‘you’re in kidney failure,’" Backes said.
"I often get, ‘you are so young for this to happen to.’ Like I said, it just took me out of the blue. I had no warning signs," Backes said.
Backes has spent every night for the last four years hooked up to a dialysis machine at her home. Right now, she spends ten hours on the machine a night. She’s on two transplant lists for a kidney. She needs a match: someone with O blood type and in good health. She’s in a race against time.
"They keep telling me, ‘oh you’re moving up you’re almost at the top of the list, but time keeps going and going. But many people pass away on the list," Backes said.
Danielle said doctors told her most people can spend five to ten years on dialysis before their bodies begin to break down. For now, she said she’s taking it one day at a time, while she and her husband hold out hope that someone will see the decal and be moved to help.
"It would literally be giving me life. And that’s something that I don’t think that I can thank anyone enough for," Backes said.
Anyone who wants to help or get tested to find out if they are a transplant match for Danielle, can contact the couple at 407-748-7103 or 239-877-7318. The information is also posted on the couple’s Facebook page: https://m.facebook.com/569938171/posts/pfbid0oiZtCewLnw9jpJUYLk4vpae2M8MS3v1gbLBiBVo6ybyc68y6WMEbsDeVqcpwqmael/?sfnsn=mo&mibextid=6aamW6