GASTON COUNTY, N.C. (WBTV) – The holiday season is in full swing, which means many of us are starting to craft our wish list for Santa. Today, he was found working at his workshop in Bessemer City where he’s making a list of his own.
Santa has been working all year to make our wishes come true, but this year, has a wish of his own.
“I need to get a kidney transplant,” Joe Greene said.
Greene is the owner of 161 Flea Market, where he hosts a yearly Christmas village. He dresses up as Santa, gives train rides, and hands out hundreds of candy canes.
He has had two open heart surgeries in his life, and he can’t overdo it on the Christmas candy because he lives with diabetes.
With failing kidneys though, he could soon have to go on dialysis, which would impact his ability to make sure Christmas is as magical as ever.
“Even if I don’t find one for myself, maybe they find it for somebody else,” Greene said.
Greene’s kidneys have been failing for two years, and at one point, he thought he had a donor but it didn’t work out.
Now, he’s turning towards the community asking the public to consider being a live donor. There are around 92,000 people waiting for a kidney transplant, according to the American Kidney Fund.
“That is the main thing, to help somebody,” he said.
You can learn more about being a living donor visit Donate Life or Atrium.
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