A 3-year-old Muskego boy desperately needs a new kidney. But they haven't found a match in his own family, so now his mother is turning to strangers.
Lincoln Uhlir was born with only one kidney, and his one kidney is abnormal, according to his mother Ashley. Because of this, he has End Stage Renal Disease.
"He's a very happy, strong boy," said Ashley Uhlir. "He has daily and weekly injections and by now he just kind of takes it like a champ."
She said since he's been on dialysis since he was six months old, he thinks getting hooked up to a machine every night is normal.
"Sometimes I definitely do stop and think that he thinks this is what every little boy and girl does when they go to bed because he's had to deal with this since birth," said Ashley Uhlir.
Lincoln is one of thousands of kids in the U.S. currently waiting on transplant lists, hoping a living donor will become available.
Ashley Uhlir says her son has to go through dialysis nine hours every night. He can't swim, or take baths. And she says he can't stay on dialysis forever.
"I know people have been waiting a lot longer than him but just being with him everyday, I feel like we've been waiting so long and he definitely deserves it," said Ashley Uhlir. "And our lives would just change forever because of it."
Lincoln is a patient at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, that's part of the Joint Transplant Center.
Also in the Joint Transplant Center is Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, where Dr. Ehab Saad is the medical director of the pancreas and kidney transplant center.
"We rely on the good Samaritans, the people with good hearts to come forward for living donation," he said.
He said his role is to walk the journey with recipients. But they also provide the same level of medical care to donors.
"In general, kidney donation is very, very safe," said Saad. "And our role as a physician is to make sure when the donor is coming forward and going through the surgery that we ensure their safety."
Ashley Uhlir an adult donor would work but because Lincoln is so small, he would likely need a female donor.
"We would just be forever grateful," she said.
Anyone interested in learning more about becoming a living donor can visit the Froedert Hospital donation site. You can also contribute to Lincoln's GoFundMe page here.
