Mr Whippy Tauranga needs a Kidney

On the 5th of February this year, Ross (Mr Whippy Tauranga) was feeling pretty unwell and took himself off to the hospital.

He was admitted immediately and transferred to Waikato Hospital the next day and didn't come home again for 3 weeks!

He had a kidney biopsy which discovered he has a condition called Anti-GBM-disease. This is a 1 in a million auto-immune disease where the body kills the kidneys with it's own antibodies.

Over February/March both of Ross's kidneys suffered 'catastrophic' damage, according to the doctors, and after aggressive treatments including chemo and 10 Plasma replacements, which suppresses the immune system, he is now on dialysis 3 days a week in Waikato Hospital.

The end result, Ross needs a new kidney.

I (his wife) am a viable donor for Ross, however being self employed, we are not in financial position to have both of us out of action for the time needed to make this transplant happen.

In the unlikely event I am not a good match for Ross, there is a swap a kidney programme, which involves trading between donors and recipients to find the best match. I would be unable to participate in this programme without financial support.

If Ross's treatment has failed and the antibodies carry on attacking his kidneys (we don't know yet) we will need financial assistance for a funeral as he doesn't have life insurance.

A little Background.

Ross and I have been friends for 34 years, in a relationship for 22 and married for 3 years, we have 4 children and 3 grandchildren.

We, like most couples have had our share of struggles but also lots of laughs and good times.

Ross has already had difficult time before the onset of his current condition, in 1989 he was Area Manager of a company, had a wife (not me), when he had a fall which left him with two prolapsed disks in his lower back which were left undiagnosed for 9 years.

At this time, he had to leave his job due to the chronic pain, his wife left and found himself on ACC for many years after.

We have been through 3 spinal surgeries together, and the long road to, sadly, not much recovery but Ross eventually got back in to full employment.

We moved to Tauranga as Ross transfered, sadly he was made redundant from this position within months of us moving.

This was when we took a risk and bought a Mr Whippy franchise.

Renting for the first time in 30 years, and on a self employed income,everything was going well as the weather in Tauranga is great for selling Ice cream.

Ross is an amazing Mr Whippy, he is very generous and goes out of his way to leave the customer with a smile.

We have gone from looking forward to a future together to looking at years of medical intervention and it has completely taken us by surprise.

We would appreciate any assistance available to facilitate this lifesaving operation for Ross.