GREENFIELD — For his second birthday, Hudson Schrank is getting a working kidney, and his dad is gifting it to him.
Bryan Schrank has been approved as a kidney donor for the 23-month-old, who has been on dialysis for end-stage kidney disease since he was 10 days old. The Greenfield man underwent a barrage of tests and screenings to make sure the kidney would be a good match and that he was healthy enough to be put through the surgery.
The family faces a four- to six-week stay at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where the exchange will take place on March 13. A fundraiser through the Children’s Organ Transplant Association, based in Bloomington, has raised more than $33,000 to help the family travel and eat while they are away from home, said mother Jessica Schrank.
Hudson’s kidneys shut down very early in his life after his mother suffered a rare pregnancy complication called a placental abruption, a condition affecting one in 100 mothers that causes the placenta to detach from the womb. He and his family spent 46 days at Riley Hospital for Children waiting for the boy to be able to come home.
Hudson’s family looks forward to him being able to eat solid food; he’s been on a feeding tube his whole life, Jessica Schrank said. He also has had to endure 10 hours a night of dialysis, which makes him queasy, nine daily medications and monthly trips to Riley to check on his condition, she said.
The ports to tubes that cycle his blood through the dialysis machine mean Hudson can’t be submerged, meaning no baths or pools, his parents said.
Support from the community continues as Hudson’s transplant date nears, she said. Mozzi’s Pizza will host a fundraiser Tuesday at both of its Greenfield locations, 2221 W. Main St., and 1282 N. State St., where if customers present a flier, 20 percent of their purchase will be donated to the COTA for Team Hudson S. account. For more information, visit http://www.cotaforteamhudsons.com.
