MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — One local man is relying on someone's kindness to give him a new lease on life — Bobby Cook has been on the waiting list for a kidney donor for more than a year, and he doesn't have much longer to wait.
- Cook’s health journey began 17 years ago when he received a heart transplant, but strong medications led to kidney failure
- Cook is now relying on the kindness of a stranger to donate their spare kidney to save his life
- According to the National Kidney Foundation, there are more than 100,000 people on a waiting list for a kidney, and only 17,000 people receive one every year
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
“I don’t want this story to end just yet,” said 70-year-old Central Texan, Bobby Cook.
"It's not in our control — it’s in Gods will, and we accept that."
Cook's journey to health began 17 years ago when he received a heart transplant.
"18 years ago, we adopted a baby — I was 51, and that little baby followed us to the hospital to get his heart," Jemelia Cook said.
"That baby is now 18-and-a-half-years-old, and that’s been out prayer — that he will survive to see this baby grown, and now he is."
Cook has watched his son grow up, and even he found his place on the football field coaching kids for a home school football team, but now he’s left in a game that he won’t be able to play much longer.
"If I don’t get one relatively soon, then I’ll be the one donating a kidney to somebody else or donating my organs to someone else," he said.
The strong medications he took for his heart transplant destroyed his kidneys, leaving him with kidney failure.
Now, Cook has been on a waiting list for a kidney for a year — he’s even had friends offer, but they haven’t qualified.
"One of them had kidney stones, and another one was taking insulin — you can’t do it," he said.
Now, he’s asking for his neighbors to help save his life.
"It’s kind of crazy that you go to Walmart, you see all these people, and you're like, 'Look at all these kidneys walking around' — you know, and then if someone would just share one of their extra ones with me, they could really help me out — I could live, I could go on with my life," Cook said.
Despite his struggles, it all boils down to this — everyone has one life, but everyone has two kidneys.
The Cooks say their faith has really pulled them through.
Their Facebook page can be found here.
According to the National Kidney Foundation,oOf the 123,000 Americans currently on the waiting list for a lifesaving organ transplant, more than 101,000 need a kidney, but only 17,000 people receive one each year.
12 people die waiting for a kidney every day — organ and tissue donation helps others by giving them a second chance at life.
