After Getting Kidney Transplant Teen Joshua D. Bailey is More Determined to Speak Up for Others
Atlanta, GA – December 16, 2020 – Last month Joshua D. Bailey received a long-awaited life-saving kidney transplant, for which he had been waiting for nearly three years. Although he and his family are ecstatic that he can resume a normal life, Bailey and his mother, Novella are now more determined than ever to help raise awareness about the process and fight on behalf of other children waiting for kidney transplants.
Residents of Lithonia, GA., Bailey and his family discovered he had stage four kidney failure three years ago at age 10, after he got hurt playing his favorite game of basketball and were frustrated by the long wait to get a kidney. As a result of living through the challenging experiences associated with waiting for a kidney transplant, Joshua and his mother are now on a quest to help raise awareness about the necessity of people becoming living donors, as well as the challenges children experience waiting to get transplants. The hope is to help save increase the amount of living donors within the African American community, and contribute to more children receiving needed transplants sooner, rather than later.
“We never gave up hope and we are very happy that Joshua finally received a kidney transplant last month,” says Novella Bailey, the mother of five children and owner of the Wee Love Kids Nonprofit. “It’s like a whole new world has opened up for him and for us because Joshua can now eat things he enjoys like a normal teenager and we can now enjoy things as a family we weren’t able to do before his transplant,” shared Bailey. “And although we’ve been blessed with him securing a donor and receiving a transplant, we want to make sure people are aware of how important it is for people of color to feel more comfortable with the whole organ donation process. To that end, we hope to raise the volume and attention about the need for organ donors—both living and deceased,” she said.
There are nearly 2,000 children under the age of 18 on the national waiting list for transplants and now that 13-year-old Joshua is on the other side having received his transplant, he says he still wants to speak out on behalf of other children who desperately need life-saving organ donors, by sharing his journey in a new book entitled, “Joshua’s Journey: A Teen’s Urgent Search for a Kidney.”
“I’m very excited to be able to move forward with my life and get back to doing some of the things I enjoy, but I still want to help people understand what kids like me and our families go through and hopefully help identify more donors and save more young lives,” said Joshua. “This book was written to not only share my story but to also encourage other kids and their families to hold strong and not give up their own fight” he shared.
Set for release in January, “Joshua’s Journey: A Teen’s Urgent Search for a Kidney,” shares Joshua’s journey before and after receiving a transplant. The book also shares some of Joshua’s personal accounts including his active life before finding out about his kidney failure; his close relationships with his mother, siblings, and cousins, as well as some of the peers he’s met along the way at the treatment centers, who have inspired him.
“I really wanted to write this book to help lift up other kids and their families through this process, which can definitely take a heavy toll,” said Joshua Bailey, who has been through a few surgeries prior to receiving his kidney transplant. “I am thankful that a donor was found for me and I want to do what I can to help keep the fight going for other kids, so hopefully many of them won’t have to wait as long as I did,” he said.
His mother wholeheartedly agrees and is full of pride as she supports her son in his continuing efforts to help others.
“The most important thing is for Joshua to be able to do what he wants to do most and that is to be able to live his life, as well as to enlighten and encourage other young people going thru this ordeal,” said Bailey. “We think this first book, the others in the series, and this ongoing awareness campaign, will go a long way towards helping that effort,” she said.
“Joshua’s Journey: A Teen’s Urgent Search for a Kidney,” sells for $19.99 plus S&H and will be available on Amazon and anywhere books are sold online. For more information about Joshua D. Bailey and his new book, “Joshua’s Journey: A Teen’s Urgent Search for a Kidney,” go to JoshuaDBailey.com or WeeLoveKids.org. For media inquiries, contact Dawn Anderson at One Neo Geo Media at (404)960-1110.
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