TOLEDO, Ohio — Kidney disease affects almost 36 million adults in the U.S., according to the CDC.
Local non-profit Kidneys for Communities is on a mission to help those in need get a kidney and has a focus on first responders.
Atul Agnihotri, the founder of Kidneys for Communities, started the organization after he had to receive a kidney transplant in 2016 due to kidney disease.
"I feel so blessed to have found a kidney and that kidney match me that it gave me my life back,” Agnihotri told WTOL 11.
Below is a picture of Agnihotri on the day after his transplant surgery.
The average wait time to receive a kidney is four to six years, but for Agnihotri it luckily only took eight weeks to find a donor match.
"There were difficult times but that miracle totally saved me and made me more determined and sort of gave me a new purpose,” he said.
That purpose now helps others on the wait list connect to potential kidney transplant donors.
Retired firefighter Gregg Tetro, who in 2019 donated a kidney at the University of Toledo, is also helping to push the initiative.
"To think of being able to do that, it's just amazing. It's the most amazing experience I ever had. That's the only way I can sum it up,” Tetro said.
His donation led to six life-saving transplants.
"From when I donated, it was that chain was still going to going for two or three years after that. It's a pretty amazing thing,” he said.
Both Tetro and Atul say it's important to help first responders, too.
"First responders give all of their time to the community, so it's important that we try to give back to them,” Tetro said.
Kidneys for Communities works to ensure the donors are helped, too.
"Our job is to make life really easy for a donor so that they have a good experience in donating giving the biggest gift you can give to another person,” Agnihotri said.
Since 2016, Kidneys for Communities has assisted hundreds of donors and patients, Agnihotri said.
For more information on Kidneys for Communities, click here.