Wilson County coach urgently seeks kidney donor to overcome life-threatening diagnosis :: WRAL.com

A Wilson County man is turning to the public for help
fighting a battle he can’t win alone.

Lee Underwood has been a Type I diabetic since he was a
child but has still maintained an active and adventurous lifestyle.

Through the years, he’s navigated his diabetes while facing
other health issues, including overcoming colon cancer in 2020.

In 2021, the fight grew dire when Lee was suddenly diagnosed
with stage 5 kidney failure.

“They said my kidneys were down to about 13% or something
function. That’s how I found out” Underwood said. “I’m a pretty busy person and
immediately started looking into ways I could take care of myself.”

Several times a week, Underwood now starts his day at 4 a.m.
in the living room he and his wife have turned into a medical clinic.

He sits in a lounge chair, hooks up to a dialysis machine
with water flowing through pipes they had fitted specially through a nearby
wall, and undergoes treatment at home for several hours.

Then, he goes to work doing what he loves most: Coaching.

Underwood shared he tries not to let his diagnosis rule his life
but says traveling has become much tougher.

He must bring the equipment with him for dialysis, taking
roughly 30 boxes of saline bags on the road with him for even just one long
weekend out of town.

“I basically have to have 40 liters five times a week,” Underwood
said.

The coach told WRAL News he knows he is running out of time to
find a donor.

“Everybody knows me as a tennis coach. If I died tomorrow,
that’s probably what I’d want to be remembered as. I don’t want to be
remembered with this,” Underwood said gesturing toward the dialysis machine.

Underwood’s wife, Cherie, shared seeing her loved one hooked
up to a machine takes an emotional toll on her every day.

“I have been mad, I have been sad, I cry, I ask why. A lot
of emotions go through my mind,” Cherie Underwood said.

Cherie plays an active role in Lee’s care by preparing the
machine for his next dialysis treatment when she comes home on her lunch
breaks.

The couple recounted how they meticulously track when to
empty the machine and swap out equipment every day. Cherie said it’s hard work,
but they don’t let it define them.

“You can’t let that take control,” Cherie said. “You still
have to live your life normally. He really does stick to that.”

Sitting beside one another, Cherie admired her husband’s
strength facing the unknown.

“He has been so great through this whole thing and never
really complains,” she said.

Lee is currently on a transplant list through ECU Greenville
and joining another in Richmond. However, he’s among roughly 90,000 people
across the country all vying for the same organ.

Kidneys
are the most sought-after transplant, according to the U.S. Health
Resources and Services Administration with the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services.

According to the most recent data published in September
2024, 89,792 people were waiting for a kidney donor. The same dataset reported
just 27,332 transplants were done that year, with about 6,500 involving living
organ donors.

The Underwoods are hoping the public will see if they are a
match to become a living kidney donor. Instead of waiting on a list for a
deceased donor and hoping to be selected out of tens of thousands nationwide,
Lee could receive a donation directly from another person.

The
National Kidney Foundation explains someone interested in becoming a living
donor would need to be evaluated at a transplant center to ensure they are a
match and healthy enough to donate.

Living donors can contact ECU in Greenville to test to
become Lee’s specific match by calling 252-847-9121 or applying through ecuh.donorscreen.org.

Donors typically spend one or two nights in the hospital
with follow-up appointments for up to six weeks.

The Underwoods told WRAL News their insurance would cover
all medical costs for a living donor.

Cherie said finding her husband a donor would change her
family’s life forever and the couple remains hopeful their phone will ring with
good news.

“It would mean the world to me,” she said. “It would be a
lifetime of being thankful for that person. I know there’s somebody out there,
we just haven’t gotten to them yet.”

The couple shared their story on Facebook and through local
support groups. Cherie explained her goal is to not only find her husband a
match but possibly help other families in the process through what’s called a
paired donation.

A paired donation occurs when a living donor isn’t
compatible with their intended recipient and instead swaps organs with another
incompatible donor-recipient pair.  

Lee said he would be excited to being able to travel longer
distances if he gets a transplant and is planning more visits to national parks.

He tells WRAL News he’s visited 38 so far. The next one he aims
to check off is New River Gorge in his hometown of Fayetteville, West
Virginia.