A sign on the back of the 18-year-old's car reads, "Single dad of 3 needs kidney, type O."
When a Michigan teen realized her mom’s boyfriend needed a kidney, she pulled out all the stops to spread the word.
A sign on the back of 18-year-old Lilian Jarjour’s car reads, "Single dad of 3 needs kidney, type O."
“When we found out it could be up to five years [to get a transplant], I was like, ‘He doesn’t have five years. What’s something I can do?'" Jarjour told InsideEdition.com. "I thought putting it on my car would help."
Ryan Stanford, a single father of three teenagers, has been dealing with polycystic kidney disease his entire life.
"My father had it — comes from his side of his family," Stanford told InsideEdition.com. "My brother and my sister have it. It’s a disease that goes through generations. It doesn’t always affect everybody, but unfortunately it got me, got my kids as well."
He explained it hasn’t affected his life until recently, when he started becoming lethargic and sick. A scan last year revealed his kidneys were shutting down.
While Stanford's condition has not yet worsened to the point of required dialysis, doctors have put him on the national transplant list and suggested he find a living donor as soon as possible.
“He got really depressed and more sad and stuff because he’s scared." Jarjour said. "That’s a scary thing, if you can’t find a kidney. He’s gotten weaker and skinnier, that’s what we really noticed. I hate seeing him [like this]. It breaks my heart how much he’s changed."
While Stanford and Jarjour’s mom, Noell Darghali, have only been dating for about two years, Jarjour said she considers him and his children like family.
"He’s more like a dad because he does all the dad things that dads do," she explained. “[His kids,] I think of them like my own siblings, like the little ones, we fight like siblings and the older one, we get along because she’s older and we can relate to a lot of things."
After many family members and closer friends were found not to be a match, Jarjour said she decided to take matters into her own hands, and spread the message by social media and word of mouth, or in her case, car.
"It’s just a poster board," she said, explaining that the family now has plans to make special car decals with the message. "He’s just a really good guy. I’m going to keep trying until he gets a kidney. I’ll keep posting, anything else I can think of to get the word out."
To find out if you're an eligible donor, fill out this form and enter Ryan Stanford's birthday, 5/11/78.
To donate to the family, visit their GoFundMe page.
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