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Toddler in need of kidney gets unsuspecting match

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Toddler and mom

Jeanne and Jack Backer

TODDLER KIDNEY TRANSPLANT

Acadiana - More than 106,000 people are currently on the national organ transplant waiting list. One of those people is a young boy in Acadiana.

After finding an unsuspected match, his parents now want to shed light on his story and the importance of organ donation.

"I never even thought about organ donation," said Jeanne Backer. "It’s not something most people think about unless it’s somebody in their family that’s going through that."

Backer knew early on that she wouldn’t be able to have children due to underlying health conditions. That’s when she and her husband Eli decided to look towards adoption.

After tying the knot, the two traveled the country before returning home to expand their family.

Backer said "we fostered. Twelve kids had been into our home and out during that whole time."

The couple says fostering wasn’t the easiest and after a few years, they were now a family of four - adopting two boys, Reese and Jack.

"We got our two boys that we adopted through foster care," she said.

Their youngest, Jack, has special medical needs similar to his mom. At only three years old he’s been on dialysis for as long as he’s been alive. After countless tests and surgeries, doctors said the toddler needed a new kidney.

"We were pretty hopeful that we would get a match," Backer said.

Of the billions of potential organ donors, Jack found an unlikely match - his mother.

"My first question was, what’s his blood type? Because I wanted to know if there was any chance that I would be a match," said Backer. "So, whenever we did find out that I was a match, I was excited."

For a little boy already chock full of joy, she can’t wait until Jack always has a piece of mom with him.

"They said once he gets his new kidney, that he’ll be totally different and have more energy and I almost can’t imagine him having any more energy than he does right now," she said.

The organ transplant is scheduled to take place on March 16 in New Orleans.

A GoFundMe has been set up for the Backer family. Eli Backer is self-employed and a GoFundMe has been set up to offset expenses as he will be traveling to-and-from New Orleans leading up to the organ transplant between Jack and Jeanne.

To donate, click here.

 
For more information on live organ donation, you can visit the Health Resources & Services Administration's website.

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