Ron Skiles

Dear Friends and Family of Ron Skiles,

As many of you already know, this past October we learned that Ron is in stage-4 kidney failure. The past 7 months have been a rollercoaster journey that has involved multiple hospital stays, 4 surgeries, countless doctors’ appointments, in addition to being placed on dialysis which was required to save his life. Although the dialysis is sustaining him for the moment, he has encountered many challenges with it and what he really needs is a kidney transplant. As you can imagine, we have spent many hours on our knees praying about his prognosis and we are happy to report that not only does he qualify for a kidney transplant; he also has a living donor who has volunteered to donate one of her kidneys for Ron … Praise God!!

For those of you who may not know Ron well, he is a lifelong resident of Frankfort, graduating from Clinton Prairie in 1973. He worked for Peter Paul for 7 years, then 25 years at Frito-Lay, and he currently has served 10 years as custodian at Frankfort Middle School. Ron is a member of Frankfort First Church of the Nazarene. He has always considered himself an encourager, fondly called Barney, (after Barnabus in the Bible) by those who know him well. Now he needs your encouragement.

While we are so excited to share the good news of a donor, in addition to your prayers, we also would like to ask for your financial help. As with all medical procedures, transplants are lifesaving but financially draining. First and foremost, while insurance will cover the cost of the donor’s surgery, she will have to be off work for 6 weeks which creates a financial strain for her. In addition, there are many out-of-pocket expenses that are not covered that we are working to absorb. They include but are not limited to lost wages, travel to doctors’ appointments, and insurance premiums. After transplant, Ron will have to be on expensive anti-rejection drugs, medications he will need to take for the rest of his life. He will also have to travel to Indianapolis 3 times a week for follow-up appointments.

To help ease the financial burden of Ron’s expenses and those of his donor that are not covered by insurance, a fundraising campaign in his honor has been established with Help Hope Live, which is a trusted nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that has been providing community based fundraising guidance to patients and their families for more than 30 years. All donations are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law, are held by Help Hope Live in the Great Lakes Kidney Transplant Fund, and are administered by Help Hope Live for transplant-related expenses only. Please, consider a contribution.

For credit card contributions, please click on the yellow Donate Now button.

Thank you for your prayers, support, and generosity. Keep an eye on Ron’s campaign page at www.helphopelive.org and on facebook, because we will be planning some fundraising events soon and posting updates regularly.

Gratefully,

Ron & Brenda Skiles
765-242-3236