Tom Bradley, a husband, father and grandfather who has been diagnosed with end stage kidney disease is on a crusade for a kidney donation to save his life.
According to his brother, Gary Bradley, who spoke during Tuesday night’s city council meeting, Tom requires dialysis for four hours approximately four times a week while he waits for a kidney.
Though Tom said he is “doing wonderful on dialysis,” and has since been listed at four different medical centers for donations, he has suffered from periods of chronic fatigue, high blood pressure and diabetes, according to the group’s Facebook page.
“After six hospitalizations in seven months, a triple bypass, and a recurrence of swelling in my legs and abdomen, doctors diagnosed me with end stage renal disease. There are only two treatments for people living with kidney failure: dialysis or transplant,” Tom’s Kidney Crusade wrote on social media.
According to data from the Health Resources and Services Administration from 2024, approximately 90,000 individuals are on the waiting list for a kidney, while data from 2023 shows that approximately 27,000 individuals received a kidney transplant.
“A new kidney will allow me to spend more time with family and see my grandsons grow up. I’ll be able to live freely without the constraints of dialysis and not be tied to a machine,” the group said on social media.
To learn more about the living donation process or to begin the testing process on Tom’s behalf, those interested may contact Lanny Martin at the University of Tennessee Medical Center at 865-305-5340 or via email at [email protected].