Tiverton 26-Year-Old Looking for a Kidney Donor

Three mornings a week, 26-year-old Tiverton, Rhode Island resident Steven Laquerre is in a chair at Fresenius Kidney Care in Fairhaven by 6 a.m. He does not get up until around 10. That is how he spends his Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. He's getting life-saving dialysis, and he wouldn't be able to live without it.

Steven is 26 years old.

The Tiverton High graduate has been on dialysis since the fall of 2021, but that is not where his story starts. In 2018, he received a liver transplant, which he said went fantastic and is still going great. However, the medications and complications that followed put his kidneys into failure.

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What Dialysis Takes From Him

Steven was a varsity tennis player at Tiverton High School and earned his letter. Now he lists the gym, the court, and simply being home with his family among the things he misses the most.

"The dialysis makes it pretty difficult to work at a job or even have a social life," he said. "Dealing with all the appointments, doctors, and the exhaustion of being in kidney failure makes it difficult."

You Do Not Have to Be a Match

There is only one way to get off the dialysis machine for Steven, and that is a living donor kidney transplant. Here is the part a lot of people do not realize: you do not have to be a match for Steven to help him.

Through a paired exchange program, a healthy donor who is not compatible with Steven can still donate. Their kidney goes to someone in the system who is a match, and Steven moves up the list to a kidney that works for him. Two people get helped instead of none.

How to Start the Conversation

Anyone considering donating a kidney can reach out to the kidney transplant team at UMass Memorial, which Steven said has been good about walking people through the information and the testing.

"Please donate to help get my life back," he said. "It's been a long time, and it would really mean a lot to not be on the machine and to get a little bit of a life off of dialysis."

You can find out more about how to help Steven on the National Kidney Registry website.