My brother....Steven Estridge 29, had an accident 14 years ago when he was 15 ... he is a BMX Dirt Jumper and landed wrong on his stomach... the impact punctured his pancreas..... he was rushed to Baystate where they did a lot of tests and found internal bleeding etc.. they put a Central Line in his neck.... that Central Line caused Septic Shock *Blood Poisoning*... and he started to die... *Literally*... to try to save his life, the Dr's put him in a medically induced coma and gave him a very high dose of antibiotics to try to kill the poison.... which caused 100% Kidney Failure at that time and he had 24 hr dialysis,.... they saved his life... and his kidneys did come back enough for him to lead a relatively normal life... it was a matter of time, but that old injury has caught up to him ... and here we are today... he has Stage 5- End Stage Renal Failure about 7% kidney function now and is in the process of getting things lined up for a transplant as soon as possible his Dr's want him to avoid Dialysis, he has been going through a tedious and time consuming process to find a donor and "choose a donor" and thankful our sister Melissa selflessly without batting an eyelash is moving forward to give him LIFE, what in incredible gift!!!! Thank you Melissa! He is unable to work which is very hard for him because he is not the type of guy to sit around and do nothing, but he has no energy or very little when he does... he has been out of work for months and the wait for disability is another 4 months... he is financially/emotionally drained and has a lot of things he needs to pay for now, and has no money coming in... he is feeling like "What is the point, Why go through with it".....As his sister, I DO NOT want "Health Insurance" and "Money Issues" to determine his SELF WORTH... he needs to focus on what is most important now and that is getting well.... I want him to see how many people care, and are wanting help him through such a dark time in his life.... PLEASE HELP ME HELP HIM!

Also something I have learned through this process that is disturbing... is After receiving a kidney transplant, a patient must take immunosuppressive drugs for the rest of his life, at a cost of $19,000 per year. Insurance only covers these drugs for 3 years!!!! Without these drugs, the body will reject the organ and the patient will have to go on dialysis. The battle isn't just NOW... it is for the REST OF HIS LIFE, he not only needs our prayers and thoughts NOW for the struggles he is going through prior to the transplant... he also needs our LOVE/STRENGTH when he gets the transplant and AFTER THE TRANSPLANT.... Please don't forget "STEVEN ESTRIDGE"...

Thank you sooo much. Please continue to pray for him and my parents and sister who will be donating her kidney to him.... Thank you ......

Shine your LIGHT on him, so he can be blown away by his Army that is there to get him through this... From the bottom of my heart... I THANK YOU... He means the WORLD to our family... We are here to fight for him.... when doesn't feel like fighting anymore..... Thank you... xo