Long Island native, Kevin Schnurr, 27, has the kidney disorder known as Alport syndrome. He has been unable to locate a living donor for a kidney transplant he desperately needs in order to regain his quality of life. After crossing family members off of his short list of potential donors, Schnurr is now using his creativity to find him a new kidney, with a remix of Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe.”

Kevin Schnurr
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Back in July 2012, Schnurr was alarmed by a ringing in his ears, extreme bouts of fatigue, and severe nausea. When a doctor took one look at his high blood pressure he was immediately sent over to Stony Brook University Hospital where he was asked to complete a series of tests. Doctors discovered high levels of potassium and phosphorus, hearing loss, and blood in his urine, all of which pointed to Alport syndrome, Newsday reported.

According to the National Kidney Foundation, Alport syndrome is a hereditary disease that damages small capillaries in the kidneys responsible for filtering waste from the blood, known as glomeruli. Blood in urine is one of Alport syndrome’s earliest symptoms. The disease is caused by a gene mutation that affects type IV collagen — protein important to glomeruli’s normal structure and function.

One in 50,000 children is diagnosed with Alport syndrome, however, it affects boys more than girls because it is passed on through a mutation in the X chromosome 80 percent of the time. Among boys who develop Alport syndrome, 80 percent develop a loss of hearing, usually by their teenage years.

Schnurr’s doctors at Stony Brook told him that his kidney function was between 10 and 15 percent, meaning that they could not properly remove toxins from his bloodstream. Following three months of hospitalization, which included hemodialysis treatments and immunodepressant drugs, Schnurr was free to go home in Oct. 2012, even though he would still have to use a dialysis machine for 10 hours every night in order to to remove toxins from his blood.

With hopes of getting back to a normal life, Schnurr is currently in the process of finding a healthy kidney donor with either O-positive or O-negative blood type. Both his mother and father were deemed ineligible as potential donors, forcing him to enlist the help of his alma maters’ alumni. With a little help from social media, he is also using his humor to get across one clear and simple message:

"Hey I just met you, and this is crazy. I need a kidney, so donate maybe."