WYANDOTTE, Mich. – Todd Sowards, 58, has spent decades calling plays on football fields in the Downriver area. Now, his Wyandotte family is calling for help.
They are searching for a living kidney donor as his disease advances toward Stage 5 kidney failure.
Sowards was diagnosed with kidney disease last year and now has about 10% to 15% kidney function.
If the disease progresses, he may need to begin dialysis, a time-consuming treatment that can help people survive kidney failure but does not replace full kidney function.
“His numbers just keep declining. Scary. Very scary,” said his wife, Tina Sowards.
Sowards has coached football for about 30 years, from youth leagues through high school, and most recently at Roosevelt High School.
But the physical toll of kidney disease has forced him to step back.
“Even cutting the grass is a whole event now,” said Soward’s son, Brandon Sowards, a former wide receiver at Michigan State University. “So small things like that it opens your eyes.”
A father of three and grandfather of five, Sowards said he worries about missing out on time with his family as everyday tasks become harder.
“Having the grandkids around and watching them run around is harder than it used to be,” Sowards said. “I just want to be able to do those kinds of things with them and get out and about.”
Family spreads the word in search of a donor
His family has posted flyers in local businesses, shared information on social media, and is working on yard signs, hoping someone will step forward and get tested.
“They want the best option for him, and they want it as quickly as possible, so they’ve worked their tails off,” said Brandon Hays, a Give to Live Health transplant ambassador who is helping the family connect with potential donors.
Hays said people who are generally healthy may be able to donate a kidney.
Even if someone’s blood type doesn’t match Sowards’, a donor may still be able to help through a paired donation program, a swap system that matches donors and recipients across multiple families.
“You can step forward and be a paired donor, where you can donate to somebody else, and somebody else can donate to your intended recipient,” Hays said.
Sowards said he is focused on the future he still wants with his loved ones.
“I love life, love my family, I want to continue to do the things that I love to do,” he said.
What to know about living kidney donation
Kidney transplants come from two sources: living donors and deceased donors. Both save lives, but there are key differences.
Deceased donation occurs when a person who has died, and whose family has agreed to donation or who is registered as a donor, donates organs, including kidneys.
Sowards has been put on a list to receive a kidney from a deceased donor, but the average wait time can stretch five years or longer.
Living donation
A living donor gives one of their two kidneys. Most healthy people can live with one kidney, and donors are carefully screened for medical and psychological safety.
Living donation can often be planned in advance, which may reduce time spent on dialysis or help a patient avoid dialysis altogether.
In many cases, kidneys from living donors tend to work sooner after transplant and can last longer than kidneys from deceased donors, according to transplant organizations and medical centers.
Paired donation can expand options when a donor and an intended recipient are incompatible.
In paired exchange programs, a donor gives to a different recipient, and the intended recipient receives a compatible kidney from another donor.
How to help
The family is encouraging anyone interested in learning more about living kidney donation or being screened as a potential donor to contact Brandon Hays at bhays@givetolivehealth.com or 734-219-9240.