Dad hoping to find kidney for son for Father's Day

HOUSTON - Most dads would like to give their kids the world, while one father from Spring is hoping to find his son a kidney.  

It's been a tough journey for Jalen Lowe and his family; his father finds it hard to put it in words.

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"It’s been a lot of long days, long nights. It's a lot to explain," says Jay Lowe.

Jalen was born with a hole in his heart. Doctors implanted his first pacemaker when he was only two days old.

Fast forward to 2016 through years of other surgeries when Jalen went back under the knife to correct a bow in his leg.

"He had knee surgery, and they believe from that it caused a staph infection which shut down his organs," explains his mother Kimberly Lowe.

Jalen spent more than a year in the hospital fighting reactions to antibiotics, recovering from his skin peeling, and undergoing two or three open-heart surgeries during that time.

"The infection got on his pacemaker so they had to replace that also. He also had to have surgery on his stomach," says Kimberly. "It got really bad."

Jalen describes what it was like for him, "It was very traumatizing. It was scary," he says.

After that ordeal, all of his organs recovered except for his kidneys. He's now 18-years-old and according to his mother has been on dialysis for five years while he waits for a transplant.

His parents' health problems make them ineligible to donate.

"You want to take their place, you want to take all of the pain and misery away from them," says Jay. "You know as a father, you want to protect your child."

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In February, Jalen was put on the National Transplant Waitlist. Meanwhile, in between physical therapy and dialysis treatments three times a week, the recent high school graduate plans to study forensic science.

"[In the] police department field towards being a detective," says Jalen.

His family is getting help through the Children's Organ Transplant Association while trying to find a donor.

"His path has been hard, whatever god entails, personally, I just want him to be happy and live a great life," says his dad.

It's the one sure thing Jalen’s father knows, as he hopes for the best. 

If you would like to find out if you're a match for Jalen or to support his journey, visit Jalen's COTA page.