The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has been felt every day in New Jersey, and for one Franklin Lakes man, his second chance at health and life has been put hold.

 

Thomas Minardi was all set for a potentially life-saving transplant, but then COVID-19 hit, and everything changed.

The 59-year-old is a father, and a hard-working baker. He has also battled kidney disease for years, and struggled to find a donor.

Finally, this year, his doctors were able to find him a match, and set up his surgery for after Easter. But with the pandemic, elective surgeries were put on hold.

Just this month, his hospital was finally able to reschedule his transplant surgery, so they contacted his donor.

"When they reached out to my donor who was on board all this time, that's when I found out "whah" my jaw dropped,” says Minardi. “What do you mean I thought we were ready to go and I'm starting all over again? I had to go this same week to get this catheter put in because I was holding off because I didn't want to do this, but I don't have a choice right now."

All Minardi wants to do is get back to work, but he needs help finding a donor.