TAMPA, Fla. - A 27-year-old Tampa woman has searched for the past year to find a living donor.
Betsy Urrea is in stage 5 kidney failure and needs a transplant.
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"You only live once, literally, so it's like you would be saving my life whoever is my match," said Betsy Urrea.
Urrea said she was first diagnosed with kidney disease about 10 years ago while in high school. She said doctors are not sure what caused her kidneys to fail.
"Nobody in my family has a history of kidney disease. I have some family members with kidney stones here and there. My older sister got diagnosed with lupus not that long ago," Urrea said.
Urrea said she will soon need dialysis.
"My kidneys as of last week function 11 percent. They say 10 and under, dialysis and transplant immediately so I've been borderline 11 percent for months," Urrea said.
Urrea has been searching for a living donor for the past year, but so far has not been able to find a match.
"People can live with one kidney and I’ve had people get tested for me and everything, but I haven’t found a match yet," she said.
Urrea said she had blood work done recently to try and get on the national organ transplant waiting list.
More than 113,000 patients are on the national organ transplant waiting list and 84 percent of them need a kidney transplant.
"People die every day from waiting on the list and waiting to receive a kidney, waiting to receive any help. Some people find the help and some don’t," she said.
Urrea made decals to post on her car and her family's car. Friends are also sharing her message by driving around Tampa with the decal on their car.
The decal on Urrea's car says, "I need a kidney! Blood type A or O."
It also shares an email address, betsyneedsakidney@yahoo.com, if people are willing to get tested to see if they are a match.
Urrea said her confidence in God assures her that a match is out there.
"I just kind of leave it in God's hands to be honest. I know there's a time and place. My match will come up," she said.
To learn more about Urrea's journey to find a kidney visit her GoFundMe page.
To register as an organ, tissue and eye donor online visit www.donatelifeflorida.org.
