LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — A 9-year-old from Limestone County is one step closer to finding a kidney donor.
Last month, News 19 introduced you to Ruger Ennis, a boy who only recently discovered that he was in stage 5 kidney failure and would need a kidney transplant.
Since our first interview, Ruger went through surgery, celebrated a birthday, and got two pieces of really good news.
Tuesday, Ruger and his mom, Haley Schrimsher, were all smiles as they Zoomed from their room at the Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham. They’re excited because it’s likely their last week in the hospital.
“Hopefully, he gets to come home, except for clinic visits, next Tuesday,” Schrimsher said.
Ruger underwent a successful surgery in May to prepare him to receive at-home dialysis. Now, he’s almost ready to transition into the new routine.
“It’s going to look like 12-hour days at first,” Schrimsher said. “He’ll get hooked on the machine at 5 o’clock and then he’ll get off at 5 the next morning, and then when he goes back to school around that time it’ll be around 7-hour days.”
Although it will be a rigorous dialysis schedule, being back at home will have its perks. Ruger gave a big “thumbs up” to the idea of going back to school in the fall and seeing his friends and classmates.
Ruger is also healthy enough now to have a kidney transplant, once he finds a donor.
“The transplant coordinator said, ‘Well, he’s got yesses on everything, his labs look beautiful, he’s ready for transplant,’” Schrimsher said.
He’s been on the hunt for a donor for a few weeks now, but Schrimsher said the process has actually moved pretty quickly.
She said they have three potential donors, and that they’ll do further blood testing in the next week.
“One of them is a Birmingham police officer, one of them works for a Christian-based nursing company, and the other one is a dialysis nurse at Vanderbilt,” Schrimsher said. “So we’re just hoping that one of them is the perfect match.”
If they can find that perfect match, Ruger could undergo a transplant by the end of the year. He said he hopes it will happen by Christmas!
Schrimsher said she’s very hopeful that one of the potential donors will work out, but due to the complicated nature of organ donation, they aren’t discouraging others from reaching out.
If you’re interested in seeing if you could be a donor for Ruger, they encourage you to email [email protected].
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