William Jones is in the third grade at The Oakridge School in Arlington, Texas. His big sister Sydney is in fourth grade and his brother Aaron is in eighth grade.
Their father, Nate, had been experiencing high blood pressure, but wasn’t having any concerning symptoms. In 2018, he learned he had developed sudden renal failure. Doctors said he was like a “walking time bomb.”
Nate’s only chance at survival would be a kidney transplant. For the next 18 months, he endured a grueling schedule of dialysis with sessions that lasted up to four hours. Needless to say, it was a highly stressful and painful time for the entire Jones family.
However, the Jones pretty much kept Nate’s scary medical situation a secret from most people. They never asked anyone for a kidney donation and just didn’t want to put anyone in that kind of position to make such a life-changing decision.
One day, Nate’s wife Amenze was dropping their kids off at school when a staff member asked how their summer was going. Not wanting the teachers to worry or wonder if any of her three kids happened to seem distracted or emotional in class, she explained her husband’s diagnosis.
The Jones family had no idea what — or who — was about to step in and change all of their lives forever.