Daris Lee is the Manager of Health and Wellness at Bonton Farms. His smiling face and helpful disposition doesn't let on to his daily struggle. Lee needs a kidney.
"I've been on dialysis for 12-years. For 11-years I've been on a transplant list," Lee said. "They say I have a very rare blood type, which is B+."
That's how you'd describe Lee's attitude, too.
"I have no other alternative but to be positive," Lee said. I don't have bad days. I don't. Any day above ground is a good day for me."
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For Lee, working at Bonton Farms was a second chance, after spending some time behind bars.
"It's a place of, to me, redemption," Lee said. "To kinda fix the things you've broken throughout your walk in life."
Now Lee is hoping to raise awareness about kidney donation to give him, and others who need donors, a second chance at life.
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"The first time somebody offered me a kidney was Darren Babcock, the Founder and CEO of Bonton Farms," Lee said. "Oh, man! I cried like a baby...somebody that didn't look like me, somebody who's not from my community, just came and offered to do that for me. Man, that's a big deal!"
"I mean, I would have been honored to be able to support him or help him in some way. I just regret that it wasn't a match," Babcock said. "He's an example of the reason we're here."
Lee said he's ready to run if that call comes, telling him there's a kidney for him. But if that day doesn't come for him, that's ok too.
"That's not going to stop me. It's not going to deter me, or discourage me in any way, man," Lee said. "I'm gonna keep on doing what I'm doing."
There are an estimated 90,000 people nationwide on the kidney donor waiting list. The National Kidney Foundation has more information on kidney donation.
