After more than a year of searching and praying for a kidney for 14-year-old Turlock Christian student Jaxon Shaneyfelt resulted in a successful transplant last Christmas, the campus community finds themselves in nearly the same situation, this time for Deziree Del Toro.
A seventh grader at TC, Del Toro had been a standout in travel softball. But a string of unusually substandard performances on the field and subtle complaints of fatigue and soreness culminated into the unthinkable for the 12-year-old and her family.
On May 22, Del Toro suffered a seizure. Three days later, blood tests revealed that her levels were low, and a trip to Valley Children’s Hospital confirmed that both of her young kidneys were damaged and that she needed to start dialysis immediately. And just like Shaneyfelt, her family is pleading for help in finding a living donor.
“It was a very shocking experience for all of our family,” said her mother, Dulce, who works in the school’s front office as a human resources specialist. “But we’ve been able to stay strong and move forward knowing what we need to do, which is finding a donor, whether it’s us or somebody else out there.”
Del Toro is still undergoing tests to see what has caused the kidney failure, whereas Shaneyfelt was diagnosed with juvenile nephronophthisis. Regardless, the fact is that she needs one sooner rather than later. She will be treated at Stanford Medical Center by the same doctors who helped save Shaneyfelt’s life, including the same transplant coordinator, Gerri James. Furthermore, Del Toro has the same blood type (O-positive) as Shaneyfelt, though a person with any O-type blood would be a compatible donor for her.
“Looking back at Jaxon’s journey and knowing that we’re in a similar situation, it’s kind of surreal,” Dulce said. “When he came back and we welcomed him in the parking lot, I knew it had been such a long journey for his family, and I was thinking to myself as he was driving in, ‘I don’t think I’d be able to handle that as a parent.’ Well, here we are now. We’re going through it, and I’ll tell you, the community has been so supportive.
“I was in my office working when I received the call. It was really early, so I knew it was something urgent. It’s usually never a good thing when the doctor calls you first thing in the morning. And he said that her blood tests had actually come up pretty bad, and I knew we were going to drive to Valley Children’s right then and there, so I just told everybody here and told them that I need prayer. And Dezi has been very faithful throughout her life. She’s been doing so well, it’s honestly amazing how well she’s handling everything. She’s so strong, physically and mentally, through God.”
One aspect of the energetic yet sometimes shy middle schooler’s daily life that she has somewhat struggled with is the inability to be fully active, whether it’s with her travel softball team, Merced’s Diamond Devils, or during PE at school.
TC junior high and high school principal Nineb Shahbaz described the latest situation as unfortunate, and that he’ll “never pretend to fully understand the Lord’s ways.”
Since learning that Deziree will be in need of a kidney, the Del Toro family has begun working with the Stanford staff to see if they qualify to be a living donor for their loved one. They have also spoken at length with the Shaneyfelt family, collaborating on how to get the word out to the public, whether it’s creating a GoFundMe (www.gofundme.com/f/support-dezis-journey-to-kidney-transplant), creating social media pages (www.instagram.com/dezi_love_1/) and reaching out to local media outlets.
For individuals who have type O blood and want to try to help Del Toro or any other individuals in need of a kidney, they can contact Stanford kidney transplant coordinator Gerri James by calling her office at (650) 498-4905 or by emailing at GJames@StanfordChildrens.org for more information on becoming a donor.
“Our family as a whole is very faithful, so we’re always praying for a perfect donor,” Dulce said. “God's preparing the perfect donor.”
