Warsaw resident Mathew Mawer has had 30 surgeries and is in need of a kidney transplant. Mawer, 37, has been on dialysis for the past four years and has renal kidney failure. He has had kidney problems since birth and has been on kidney dialysis since Aug. 21, 2009. He receives dialysis on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, four hours each time, at Fresenius Medical Center, a dialysis clinic in Warsaw. He also goes to Indiana University Medical Center three times a year for check-ups. He has been on a waiting list since February to receive a kidney. Mawer has had two kidney transplants and complete hip reconstruction on the left and right sides of his body. Mawer lives with his mother, Pam, in her Warsaw home, and is engaged to Becky Harvey. He loses his Medicare insurance at the end of this year and can’t work because he is on disability. “I was sent to doctors in Fort Wayne, South Bend and Indianapolis,” Mawer said during an interview Tuesday night at his mother’s home. He had trouble urinating and had many blockages due to his kidney failure. His kidneys had trouble releasing waste and urine and caused them to back up. “I had 35 percent damage to one kidney and 95 percent damage to the other kidney and I was told I needed a kidney transplant,” Mawer said. His mother has had kidney disease for the past 12 years and although she is the correct blood type, her kidney cannot be used because of her own disease. “I have stage three kidney disease and expect to go on dialysis in a year,” Pam said. Matthew Mawer’s uncle has been tested to give Mawer his kidney, but he takes medicine for high blood pressure and doesn’t qualify. Mawer’s fiancee also has been tested, but she has heart problems. Mawer, a 1996 Whitko High School graduate, said he received his first kidney from his father, Daniel, on May 1, 1989, when he was 12. His father’s left kidney was put in the right side of his body and it lasted until Aug. 21, 2005. His father’s kidney is still inside his body but doesn’t work anymore. He received another kidney from his aunt, Tam Smith, that lasted until Aug. 21, 2009, that has been taken out. Since he is in the fourth stage of final renal failure, the only way he lives is on dialysis. His only kidney no longer works and his body is slowing dissolving it. Mawer needs a living donor who has either Type O or Type A blood. Mawer said it would mean a lot to receive a kidney. “If I received a kidney I could get my life back and would like to go back to work and make a living,” Mawer said. Mawer worked as a carpet layer until he went on dialysis in 2009. He said he would also like to get married next fall. He likes to bicycle and spend time with friends. He also would like to be able to drive regularly because his blood pressure drops after receiving dialysis, and he can’t drive after he receives the treatment. Pam said it would mean a lot if someone donated their kidney to her son. “Three days a week I drop him off at dialysis and I know it is hard for him,” Pam said. “It breaks my heart to see him like this. I wish it was me and not him who needed the kidney.” Pam said when he has healthy kidneys he has more energy. “I just want him to have a normal life,” Pam said. Becky said as his fiance it has been hard to see Mawer go through health problems. “If he got the kidney he would have so much more energy to have a normal life again,” Becky said. “He is a great person who has brought a lot of joy to my life and is outgoing and doesn’t let much get him down.” Those wishing to see if they are a match to donate a kidney can contact Indiana University Medical Center donor coordinator Laura Eickhorst by calling 317-944-4370. They also can call Pam Mawer at 574-268-8832.
