Most mothers get a flower basket and taken out for breakfast by their kids on Mother’s Day, but one Nanaimo mom will get a life-saving gift from her son.
Peter Poole, also known as DJ All Good, is donating a kidney to his mother Vicki Poole, aka Ma Poole, whose health has deteriorated from progressive kidney failure.
“She got the news about two years ago her kidneys were failing and that they were rapidly going downhill,” Poole said.
Poole and his mother have undergone 18 months of testing at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver to ensure he’s a compatible donor and that giving up his kidney won’t adversely affect his future health.
“About two months ago we got the green light that we could set a date. A year and half is a long time to be waiting and seeing my mom just getting sicker … and every time having this feeling of, like, oh, man we could have made it this far and then that I’m not a good match,” Poole said.
The surgery is scheduled for May 15 – the day after Mother’s Day.
Poole has never undergone surgery before, but is excited about helping his mother and St. Paul’s Hospital staff have helped put him at ease about the procedure.
“Every once in a while I get a little bit emotional about it because I love somebody that much,” Poole said. “It’s really amazing and I know, without a doubt, that she loves me that much and that’s a beautiful thing. I feel really blessed.”
Poole is looking forward to taking a little time to slow down from his busy life as a father, employee at GT Hiring Solutions and a DJ. After their recovery, he hopes to take his mom and seven-year-old son to visit his mother’s family in Fiji, where she’s originally from.
To help out with costs of taking time off work for his and his mom’s post-operation recovery, Poole has started a GoFundMe page.
As of Monday, the campaign had raised more than $5,700 of his $10,000 fundraising target.
“It’s so great,” Poole said. “Other than just financial support, people have been offering to take care of my son and bring me meals and all sorts of things.”
One man has even donated tickets to a Metallica concert he won from a radio station contest. They’ll be offered up as a prize at one of Poole’s upcoming Kidney Bean$ fundraising events happening in the coming weeks. The first one happens at The Queen’s Thursday (April 20) at 9 p.m.
To learn more about Poole’s fundraising efforts or to make a donation, please visit www.gofundme.com/giving-ma-poole-my-kidney or his Facebook page at http://bit.ly/2pxZJsN.