Flushing Man Waiting Years for Kidney Gets Life-Changing Late-Night Call

After years of watching his kidneys slowly fail, Jacob Smith had reached a grim reality: Every night, he was tethered to a dialysis machine for up to 11 hours as he battled end-stage renal disease.

The 35-year-old Flushing man knew the clock was ticking. Doctors warned him he could wait years for a kidney transplant. But just weeks ago, Jacob’s life changed forever when his phone rang at 11 p.m.

A Routine Physical Changed Everything

Smith’s health battle began in 2018, when routine bloodwork revealed Berger’s Disease, also known as IgA Nephropathy, a condition that slowly damages the kidneys.

At the time, his kidneys were functioning at 38%. Despite medications, diet changes and treatment from multiple specialists, that number fell to just 15% by late 2024, forcing Smith to begin overnight dialysis treatments at home.

Life on Dialysis

For the next 15 months, Smith spent nearly every night connected to a dialysis machine while waiting for a transplant.

“I found myself exhausted with no energy, wondering if my life would be like this forever,” he said.

Smith eventually joined transplant lists at both the University of Michigan and the University of Toledo. While he was told the wait in Ann Arbor could stretch five to seven years because of his blood type, Toledo offered hope for a much shorter timeline.

The 11 p.m. Phone Call That Changed Jacob Smith's Life

Then, on April 24, the phone finally rang.

The call came from the University of Toledo transplant team. A kidney match had been found.

“They asked me if I was willing to accept it,” Smith said. “And in that moment, everything just stopped.”

Within hours, Smith and his wife were on the road to Toledo.

Doctors later told him the donor was a man in his early 30s who had died from a head injury.

“If I ever had the chance to meet their family, I would let them know how thankful both my family and I are for the gift of life that was bestowed upon me,” Smith said.

By the time he arrived at the hospital, Smith’s kidney function had dropped to just 9%.

A New Kidney and a New Beginning

Thankfully, doctors said the transplanted kidney “woke up” immediately after surgery and began functioning right away.

“By the next morning, function was up to 16% and rising,” Smith said.

Just three days later, when he was discharged from the hospital, his kidney function had climbed back to 38% — the highest it had been since his diagnosis in 2018.

Now, just five weeks after surgery, Smith said his kidney function has risen to nearly 80%. He tells Cars 108 that all 22 surgical staples have been removed and he’s looking forward to having his dialysis port removed on June 2.

Smith also praised the transplant team at the University of Toledo Medical Center, along with his wife, Brittany, and his parents for helping him through the life-changing journey.

“As always, your support staff is so important during the whole process,” Jacob said. “I wouldn’t have been able to recover so well if it weren’t for my wife, Brittany, and my parents.”