A Lynn, Massachusetts, mother is taking an unusual step in tracking down a kidney donor: using a billboard to find a match.
"I’m fighting to do everything I can to be here," 42-year-old Miranda LeBrasseur said.
LeBrasseur is in the fight of her life and in a race against time to try to find a kidney donor that’s a match.
The mother of two young girls has been on the transplant list since 2016, but it’s a five to six year wait.
"I want to be there for everything for them, for them getting married, them going to college, them having children of their own, and I can’t do that unless I get a kidney," she said.
So instead of waiting, LeBrasseur decided to put up this billboard in Wyoma Square, looking for help.
She raised nearly $2,000 so she could have the billboard up for four weeks in April, and she’s already had five potential donors contact her.
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"I’m praying and keeping my fingers crossed that somebody will be a match," she said.
Her daughters, Claire and Emily, say it would give them their mom back.
"It would mean a lot because when she’s on dialysis, she’s not really feeling well because of the treatments so she can’t really do much," 14-year-old Emily said.
Her 11-year-old daughter Claire added, "She would be a lot more happy, a lot more energetic and we could do a lot more stuff and go more places."
Her husband Jeff tries to stay cautiously optimistic that the right match is out there.
"I could curl up in a ball and cry every single night, my wife is sick, or I could accept that as part of life, work towards making it better and just keep my chin up and smile," he said.
"You can’t give up, you have to try everything you can and that’s what I’m trying to do," LeBrasseur said.
The billboard will be up here in Lynn until April 29. Anyone interested should fill out the living donor survey or email kidneys4me@yahoo.com and they may be called in for testing.
