ROCHESTER (WXYZ) — Sitting court side with his family is one of the highlights of the Hendley families time together. Since meeting at Oakland, John and Melissa have stayed true to the black and gold.
“We want to be here, this is home to us, we’ve been on campus for close to 20 years,” John Hendley said.
“John is just as good a person as there is, he’s a big season ticket holder, been a fan for a long time, brings his family to the radio show on Wednesday’s, just loves Oakland and Oakland basketball,” Oakland head coach Greg Kampe added.
But while he cheers, he waits, for a donation from someone out there that will save his life.
“He was born with one kidney, and it’s going bad,” Kampe added.
“I had chronic kidney disease and an autoimmune disorder called FSGS which attacks my kidney,” Hendley said.
“He’s never known what it feels like to few good, because he’s only ever had one kidney, and that kidney has never functioned at 100-percent, so for him it’s just going to be a brand new life,” Melissa Hendley added.
Now John’s life isn’t necessarily in jeopardy in the near future, but while his goal is to find a life saving kidney of his own, his overall goal is to raise awareness that there are other who need help, and that we all, if willing, can be apart of the solution.
“There’s about 107,000 people waiting for a kidney in the U.S. right now that are on the waiting list, in Michigan we’re at about a four and a half to five year wait, when you get on the waiting list, so it’s really important that we get the word out there that there’s options and that we can lessen the wait time,” Hendley added.
“I’ve been in this business for 40-some years, for some reason you get to be a sound piece and what a better thing to be a sound piece for someone to save their life,” Kampe stated.
