WASHINGTON COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) When Steven Poole was diagnosed with kidney disease in Nov. 2022, it came as a complete shock. Doctors believe it was brought on by uncontrolled hypertension. And since then, his life has changed completely.

“It was the last thing I expected to hear,” Poole says. “I expected prostate cancer, colon cancer, anything but kidney disease. You could have knocked me over with a feather.”

Before his diagnosis, Steven was always on the move — hiking, exploring, and living an active lifestyle. But now, every night is spent connected to a dialysis machine.

“I have a machine at my house,” Poole adds. “I hook up to it every evening before I go to bed. It runs for eight hours and cycles four times, and it cleans my kidneys, the phosphorus and impurities out of my blood.”

The treatment has made it harder to enjoy the activities he loves, and has put new demands on his family.

“I can’t go out in the desert like I used to,” he says. “I have to be home. All my friends, they’ve got to get me home by a certain hour. And it’s a pain for my wife because she has to make food by a certain hour.”

His wife Gina says the disease has drained much of the energy he once had.

“With Kidney Disease, as soon as he gets home, he’ll fall asleep in the chair,” Gina says. “And he’ll be asleep until it’s time for bed, he’ll hook up to the machine, go to bed, and try to sleep through the night.”

About six months ago, Steven decided to take his search for a donor into his own hands. He began posting on social media and putting up flyers in parks all around Washington County — in hopes of one day finding his perfect match and changing his life.

“I wouldn’t have to do dialysis,” Steven says. “I’d be able to get back out there and hang with my grandkids and do all the things I did before. I never expected to wake up one day and be sick the rest of my life. It never occurred to me that this would happen, and it did.”

Although a new kidney wouldn’t be a cure, it would give him a chance to live more normally, and spend more time with his family.

For Steven, the journey is about more than his own struggle. He says becoming an organ donor is a gift that can change countless lives.

“What better legacy to leave your grandkids and your kids?” he says. “That’s what I’d say. One step at a time, one day at a time, one person at a time. And we can change things.”

A link to Steven’s website can be found here for those that would like to donate.