SPRINGETTSBURY TOWNSHIP, YORK COUNTY, Pa. -- A York County man needs a kidney so he can continue being a father to his two children and a husband to his wife. He's in stage 5 kidney failure and spends eight hours a day hooked up to a machine to keep him alive.
T.J. Bradley loves playing with his two children, Adelyn and Aidan, and spending time with his wife, Rachel.
It can be hard to be a dedicated father and a husband, though, when you're living through stage five kidney failure.
"The hardest part is at night, having two small children, if she's crying or he's crying or even the dogs crying, or anybody crying, I can't get to them," said T.J. Bradley.
That's because each and every night Bradley spends 8 hours hooked up to this dialysis machine at his home in Springettsury Township just to stay alive.
"It's a lot of work. It's not just, 'here's a bag, hook it up, boom!' This takes almost a half hour to do," explained Bradley.
As hard as it is for his kids, they help daddy by carrying in bags of fluid, which are then hooked up to his stomach to flush out the waste that his kidneys would normally do for him.
Aidan is fully aware of his father's sickness, wishing for a cure every night on his wishing star.
"We're going to get him a kidney," said Aidan.
Besides wishes, the family is also selling shirts to support him.
"The goal was to help raise some money for when he's off recovering from the surgery and to just basically spread awareness, get it out there," said Rachel Bradley, his wife.
Every day is a battle, but some days weigh down on him more than others.
Still, he's determined to find a living donor, and stays hopeful for a long-life with his family.
"How do you keep yourself motivated to keep on doing it?" asked FOX43.
"My two kids, and my wife, that's. it. I've always said if didn't have them I don't know if I would keep on trying, but I have to, and I want to be there for when he graduates, when she graduates and she gets married, and I want to grow old with my wife," he said.
If you're thinking about helping Bradley by donating a kidney, he wants potential donors to know the surgery won't cost them a penny because his insurance will cover the cost of the procedure.
There's a Facebook page which talks more about his journey and a GoFundMe page where you can donate to help cover his care costs.
You can buy one of their shirts here: https://www.bonfire.com/tjs-kidney-crusade1/.