Texas A&M University Texarkana Retired Professor On Dialysis Seeks Living Kidney Donor, Urges Donation

Retired Texas A&M Professor Seeks Living kidney Donor To Restore Life, Travel Dreams

USA: Retired Texas A&M University Texarkana mathematics professor Dennis Kern has lived with stage 4 kidney disease for a decade and now urgently needs a living kidney donor to pursue transplantation. Kern, a longtime diabetic, attributes kidney damage to a medication side effect used during diabetes management and has relied on dialysis since 2023 to keep his condition from worsening.

Once a campus fixture who helped thousands of students over two decades, Kern says the limits of dialysis have kept him from family milestones and ordinary pleasures, including travel to see grandchildren who live in Hawaii. The closest child is a daughter in Houston, and the couple has been unable to make the trips they once took freely because of his treatment schedule and health constraints.

His wife Joyce describes the daily toll: most of her time is now spent driving him to dialysis and medical appointments, and many of the volunteer activities they cherished—assisting with Civil Air Patrol and running audio and video at church—have fallen away. A successful kidney transplant would not only end his dependence on dialysis but also restore a broader quality of life for both of them.

The Kerns are asking anyone who feels called to consider living kidney donation or to learn more about transplantation options to come forward. They also want to use their story to advocate for others waiting for donors, emphasizing the importance of organ donation as a way to serve fellow humans and renew family life.

Video originally published on 2026-05-11 17:44:04