BELGRADE — If you have ever considered being a kidney donor, now could be your chance.
A local family in Belgrade is hoping to get a living donor kidney transplant for 33-year-old Bryan Dowdle.
Bryan and his mom, Shelly Dowdle, have lived in Belgrade for the past 20 years.
"I think he looks so handsome here," said Shelly Dowdle while looking at old photos. "But, you can't tell anything is wrong with him."
WATCH: A Mother Gave Her Son a Kidney at 4 Years Old. Now She's Asking a Stranger to Do the Same
Bryan Dowdle was born with kidney failure. His mom said she found out she was 35 weeks pregnant during an ultrasound.
"They said there's something wrong with him; he would probably not be born alive."
Bryan Dowdle spent his first few years on dialysis — a treatment that artificially filters the blood to remove excess fluid, waste, and toxins when the kidneys can't function properly.
For that reason, Dowdle described her son as a miracle baby.
At four years old, Dowdle made the decision to donate one of her kidneys to her son.
"As a mom, I was like, 'yeah, I'll do it'," she said.
Both of the Dowdles are blood type "O," which, according to American Red Cross Blood Services, 45 per cent of Caucasians are this blood type.
"At the time, if you donated to a child, they did an open incision," she explained. "They didn't do it laparoscopically.”
Dowdle added that she has a 13-inch incision.
"It didn't feel good, but I was up and in a wheelchair to visit him the next day."
The two had their surgeries done at the UCLA Medical Center.
There are no kidney transplant centers in Montana, so the nearest would be in Denver, Salt Lake City, Seattle, or Spokane.
According to the American Kidney Fund, there are more than one hundred thousand people on the "national transplant waiting list for a deceased donor kidney," and Dowdle said her son is one of them.
"His transplant kidney has failed," she said. "And, we were told he could be waiting for like eight or nine years," she said.
Now, they're looking for a living donor kidney transplant instead. According to the National Institutes of Health, a donated living kidney has a better life span than a deceased one, and these surgeries can be arranged and pre-scheduled rather than waiting on a list for years.
So, what would it mean to the Dowdles if someone decided to be their donor?
"It would be a miracle," said Shelly Dowdle. "If we could find someone to donate now before he gets sick, I hopefully won't have to say goodbye to him."
If you're interested in learning more about Bryan Dowdle's story and how to become a donor, click here.
