Last December, when a Riverside County man found himself in desperate need of a kidney transplant, he decided to take matters into his own hands in a unique way.
Jim Troccoli and his family began advertising his need for a donor on their vehicles in hopes that someone would see it and make the call he desperately needed.
Blanca Chavez saw Troccoli's advertisement and picked up her phone to be that donor.
"I have two daughters, and I'm like if they're going to these lengths it must be something emergency wise that's what I thought," Chavez said.
However, the problem was that Chavez was not a perfect match for Troccoli. And that's when the doctors had to find another solution.
"Her kidney went to a gentleman in Washington D.C., my kidney came from a gentleman in Philadelphia and coincidentally his name was Jim," Troccoli said.
The transplant was completed in April, and Troccoli has never felt better.
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"I feel like I got my life back," Troccoli said. "I scream every so often 'I got a kidney,' it's funny I had a sweat shirt that said I need a kidney.. and on the white part of it I wrote I don't need a kidney," Troccoli said.
Troccoli says he hasn't felt this good in a long time, because for nearly five years as he waited on a kidney donation list, he had to undergo dialysis three times a week for three hours a day.
"I felt the effects, even just minor sores on my stomach and chest," Troccoli said.
"On dialysis you only live x number of years," Troccoli said. "But with a live donor you'll live 15 to 20 years plus."
Troccoli and his wife have not been able to travel out of the country while he was on dialysis, but now that he has a new kidney, they are already planning a trip from their home in Wildomar to Japan.
Troccoli's unique advertising campaign is what led Chavez to pick up her phone and make that call.
There are so many people who are still in need of a kidney donation and are on a waiting list.
That's why Troccoli is hoping other people will think about organ donation and consider giving someone else a chance at a better life.
