BUFFALO, N.Y. — We see billboards and advertisements everywhere, but I recently came across one that could help save a Hamburg man's life. For Jim Naples advertising is nothing new. As a contractor, he has been doing it for 43 years. But this time he is not doing it to fight for business, he's doing it to fight for his life.
Jim says the first trouble came a year and a half ago. "I woke up like 11 days later then intensive care and when I woke up I had a port in my chest for dialysis." He had congestive heart failure, his kidneys had shut down, he needed a transplant. His hopes were raised on two occasions, but those kidneys were not viable. Then, another setback, he had a heart attack. "I had open heart surgery, triple bypass, they took me off the list so then I had to go through all the procedures again."
It has been frustrating for him and his entire family says his daughter Amelia. "He has been struggling, he goes to dialysis twice a week. It takes a lot out of him." Amelia is a constant support and his main health care advocate. "He has good days and bad days. He battles with sugar and high blood pressure and it literally could be any day that it just doesn't work anymore."
But things are beginning to turn around. Last week Jim got a call he was waiting for, from the hospital. "We just want to let you know Jim you made it back on the list again." They also told him insurance would cover the surgery. Now he just needs one more thing, and that brings us back to the ad on his truck. It is one of five company vehicles that bears the message "Kidney Needed, call 716-861-7781. It is all compliments of his longtime friend, Clarence Carnahan, the owner of E.N.S. Signs on Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo. "If this helps him get a kidney and saved his life, that would be a perfect Christmas gift." Amelia agrees, "we pray every day, we pray every day."