COOPER CITY, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida mother searching for a kidney is receiving help from a law firm and a local car advertising company to help find a donor.
Corinne Ghelber suffers from Polycystic Kidney Disease and needs a kidney transplant.
“My family has inherited a genetic disease where the kidneys develop cysts, and the cysts overtake the kidneys,” Ghelber explained. “It could take me a little while to get really awful and die. It’s hard to say, but I’ll do it with dignity and grace.”
When she went to Adskinz Advertising, Jason Mariner, the company’s founder and CEO, offered to help Ghelber on her quest to find a kidney by placing advertisements on vehicles at no charge.
“Corinne saw us in the paper, and she basically contacted me and said, ‘Hey, this is my situation. I’m dying from PKD. I need a kidney, and I think you have a great way to get the message out,'” Mariner said. “You know, she offered us money, and I said, ‘No, thank you.'”
Ghelber added that her mother and sister have died from it, and her daughter has been diagnosed with it, too.
She is on the transplant list, but it could take five years to receive a kidney.
Instead of waiting on the list, she and Mariner are being active in their search. Mariner pays drivers to place ads on their cars and has vowed to continue the campaign until Ghelber gets her kidney.
The campaign could take long, so Grace Maugere from 1-800-HURT-911 decided to help pay for the ads in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
“Being a mother myself, I wanted to give back and help out,” Maugere said. “Why not fight for something when you know that it’s out there? So someone’s out there, and they’re gonna be able to help her. Just pick up the phone and call.”
The search is a tri-county campaign, and people in Palm Beach County can call 1-833-ADSKINZ to help out. For those in Broward County, they can call 1-800-HURT-911.
The two companies’ generosity is giving Ghelber and her family hope and a fighting chance at a future.
“Obviously, it’s a– you want someone to come forward and be able to donate to live a longer life with your mother,” Hal Levenverg, Ghelber’s son, said. “As an adult, you want to see your mother hang out with your kids.”
“I owe you way more gratitude than I can express,” Ghelber said to her supporters.
If you would like to help out, please visit the campaign’s website by clicking here.
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