Dear Family and Friends,      

We are reaching out to you about our 15 year old son Tyler Murphy. It is to let you know about his current health challenge and how you can help. This is not an easy thing for us to do, but we know that without reaching out, someone who might be interested in helping Ty would not have that opportunity.

In June of 2009, Tyler was struck with a rare auto-immune disorder called Henoch-Schonlein Purpura. Most children fully recover from this, but in a very small percentage of cases like Tyler’s, it can attack the Kidneys. We have been fighting for over two years to save his Kidneys, but unfortunately Tyler is now suffering from kidney failure and we are in the beginning stages of finding him a living donor.

We have already started testing to be donors ourselves, as well as some of our family members. Although we are hopeful that one of us will be able to donate to him, we also pray that others will consider being tested. The process for each person to be evaluated can take about a month, so we need to have back-ups in case any of us end up not being suitable donors. Tyler is getting very close to needing dialysis which would be very difficult on him so we need to find him a kidney as soon as possible.

 If anyone is interested in learning more or has any questions please feel free to ask us or you can contact Tyler’s transplant coordinators Julie Ross R.N. or Debbie Schoborg R.N. at Cincinnati Childrens Hospital 513-636-4531 or 513-636-4536. You can have a confidential conversation with them and get answers to any questions you may have. Please send this to anyone who you may feel would be interested in helping.

You must have A or O blood type to donate and be under the age of 50. Also, donors need to be in good health and not on any medications. We appreciate everyone taking the time to read this and helping us get the word out. We are literally asking you to give a part of yourself to our son, so please take your own family and health into consideration. Thank you all very much!

Sincerely,

Steve and Susanne Murphy