Have you seen this vehicle driving around town?

car billboard

It belongs to Tracy and Craig Hardiman, 13-year residents of Cochrane, and Craig is in need of a kidney. 

His wife Tracy transformed her car in the hopes that someone would see their plea.“I thought of doing signs on billboards and things, but that's been done already. I thought by doing it on the back of my car and taking Craig to his dialysis appointments and around town with his hospital visits, we could get the word out there."

Craig is turning 57 next month and says he has been battling with kidney failure for years. “It all started with my diabetes, which I have had for over 25 years and one of the side effects if it is not treated properly, is kidney failure. I was actually put on the wrong medication for my diabetes and it killed my kidneys" 

Craig drives from Cochrane to the dialysis centre in Calgary three times a week where he spends up to six hours a visit making sure his blood is essentially cleaned, a process that he will hopefully be able to say goodbye to if he finds a donor. 

Craig recalls the time he was so close to successfully getting a donation.  “A friend of the family, I’ve never met her, she lives in Kentucky. They even flew her up to Calgary and put her up in a hotel. They even paid for her food because it is cheaper to do that than to keep me on a dialysis machine three times a week. It costs $70,000 to keep someone on dialysis."

"She passed all the tests and then they got down to literally, like the day before booking the operation, and they passed the file to the surgeon and he said I'm not doing that. Her kidney was being fed by two arteries and either artery wasn't big enough to support either the one she had left or the one I was going to get. So they called it off"

Tracy says that even though they are still waiting for a donation, they don't let it bring them down. "We strive onwards and upwards and Craig's attitude is always positive. He always has an upbeat manner and a sense of humour." 

Craig is in need of a donor with Type O blood. If you or anyone you know would like to begin the process to find out if you are compatible, you can call 403-944-4635 or you can reach out to Tracy and Craig directly by going to their Facebook page.