8-year-old boy in desperate need of kidney after first transplant failed 3 years ago

For three years, Jordan Rhodes of Fayetteville, North Carolina, has been searching for a kidney. In 2016, the now eight-year-old underwent a kidney transplant, but the transplant failed. Now he’s in desperate need of another.

“I can’t let this end any other way than life,” Deborah Jones, Jordan’s grandmother, told WTVD.

Jordan was born 13 weeks premature and endured a number of medical complications.

“He has microvascular, he has the microsmall intestines, he’s tube-fed; needless to say, he has no kidneys. He hasn’t peed since 2016,” Jones said.

“He so deserves a life. A normal life. I just want him to get it and be able to grow and be able to go out and make friends, you know? Be able to go and do things,” his grandmother said.

And as if finding an organ donor wasn’t already hard enough, Jordan’s failed transplant left his antibodies at a 99.9 percent chance of rejection. That means finding an organ donor will be nearly impossible.

In addition, Jordan has run out of room on his body to place dialysis ports–he receives dialysis four times a week. He currently has one spot left on the right side of his chest where his doctors can place a catheter, but after that spot has been used, Jordan is out of options.

“Give me a kidney, now!”

In order for a successful transplant, Jordan needs a donor with Type A or Type O blood. Those who are interested in seeing if they are a match can send an email to livingdonation@wakehealth.edu.

Since the story about Jordan’s desperate need for a kidney broke, Wake Forest Baptist Health received 1,200 requests for donor packets.

While it’s the most requests the medical center has ever seen, Jones isn’t celebrating yet.

“We’ve had a lot of people, but it’s like finding a needle in the United States,” she said.

Jones is also investigating whether Jordan qualifies for some procedures at the Mayo Clinic which would lower his antibodies’ chances of rejection.

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