Kids hold bake sale to help neighbor who needs kidney transplant

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Kids hold bake sale to help neighbor who needs kidney transplant

by DEBBIE DENMON
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 9:14 PM

PLANO - A man fighting for his life is getting a helping hand from an unlikely source - children in his neighborhood.

They are kids who didn't want to spend Labor Day weekend mindlessly but working to try to help a man find a kidney so he can live.

These children are hosting a selfless bake sale. They're not raising money for their cause but for Chris Padden's.

Every dollar goes towards his mounting medical bills and to help with a serious mission.

Their 37-year-old neighbor is fighting a rare disease that is destroying his kidneys.

"After a certain point, if a person is not healthy enough, they won't even be accepted for a kidney, so it's one of those things that needs to be taken care of sooner rather than later," Padden said.

Chris should know - he lost his older brother, Kevin, three years ago in a freak accident. He saw how his brother's donated liver saved a guy who had just three days to live.

Now he's hoping a cookie sale will help save him.

Neighbors are not only buying cookies they are being sold on the idea of organ donation.

Chris was born blind due to the rare disease called Leber's Congenital Amaurosis. Now he's fighting to survive, going through dialysis three days a week, until he can get an organ transplant.

"He's really nice. He's really this amazing guy," said Riley Frost, co-organizer of the bake sale.

Riley and her friend Teagan organized the fundraiser, praying every cookie they sale gets him one step closer.

A bumper sticker reads: "Don't take your organs to heaven. Heaven knows we need them."

It's a message Chris Padden takes to heart for a kidney he so desperately needs.

E-mail: ddenmon@wfaa.com