Jersey City Family Needs Kidney For Their Only Child

JERSEY CITY, NJ — "My second-grader dreams of skydiving one day after his kidney transplant," wrote Jersey City resident Nirmesh Kumar in a plea she posted on GoFundMe two weeks ago, an attempt to help find a kidney donor for her only child, Modak, 7. "Please help him reach his dream."

Kumar explained this week that Modak, who attends Golden Door Charter School in Jersey City, was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome in 2018.

Three weeks ago, the doctor said he now had Chronic Kidney Disease Stage 5, end-stage renal disease, and will need to go for dialysis.

"Kidney dialysis is three times per week for three to four hours," said his mother. "This is too much for a kid to go through. He should be spending time with his friends and family, enjoying life and his toys."

Nirmesh said that Modak is she and her husband's only child.

"He had one head surgery (craniosynostosis surgery) when he was 6 months old," she told Patch. "He is a brave kid and is ready to face challenge in this situation as well."

Nirmesh said that the family started the GoFundMe mainly to spread the word about the situation and find a donor. Since Modak is part of a kidney pairing program, a donor does not need to be the same blood type.

"Modak is on the NYU Langone active kidney recipient list," Nirmesh wrote on the GoFundMe. "The wait for a deceased kidney donor is 3 to 5 years. We are asking if you can save my son’s life and be his kidney donor. If you can find it in your heart to be Modak’s angel, please register here to be tested: NKR.org/YUK825 or https://nyulh.donorscreen.org/register/now."

Nirmesh is hoping that anyone who sees this post or the GoFundMe can spread the word in any way — for instance, sharing on social media.

Nirmesh can be contacted at Nirmesh Kumarnirmeshphp@gmail.com.

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