Mike Daly and his wife, Carol, have two daughters and two sons; but grandson, Ryan, is Mike's pride and joy these days, and a very important motivator in his desire to be well. That's Ryan with Mike in the photo at the right

Mike is a Type 1 Diabetic who has fought mightily against the disease for many years. Born with Wilm's Tumor, he had one of his kidneys removed at age 2, leaving him with only one kidney most of his life.                                             A Cherished Moment

Although this prevented him from taking part in contact sports and  military service, he never let it or his diabetes slow him down. In his job as a grocery store manager, he worked 60 hour-weeks, but also found time for family, church, scouting, school and sporting events throughout his children's lives. His Catholic faith was very important to him and he taught his children at a very young age the importance of helping those less fortunate. 

In recent years, Mike has had much to endure. Due to his advanced diabetes, he had a stroke in 1998. Three months later his remaining kidney began to fail. While he was unable to return to his job, he stayed determined to get well.

He was able to avoid dialysis for seven years by closely following an extremely strict diet, and coping with his signature sense of humor. "My diet is pretty easy," he would say, "If it tastes good, spit it out."

In 2005 Mike had surgery to insert two stents in two arteries that were partially blocked. Shortly after, he began peritoneal dialysis at home, daily. Through it all, his faith and his sense of humor shone.

He's a man who deeply loves his children; and that love came back in the form of a kidney donated by his oldest son, Michael. "My Dad needed a kidney and I had one I didn't need. There was nothing to think about," Michael says.  The big day came on September 6, 2006 -- a day the family fondly refers to as “Kidney Swap 2006!” The entire family showed up at Duke that day in t-shirts with that slogan on the back and front pockets that declared them to be a part of “The Mikes” team. 

Although Mike had and continues to have some natural parental concerns for his son, he is thrilled and thankful for his second chance at life; and will be eternally grateful to the son and the doctors at Duke University Medical Center who made it possible. While he’s still not quite ready for prime time, he can now look forward to a future where he has enough energy to play with little Ryan, go for a walk with his grown children, and maybe even return to some kind of work one day (or as Mike jokes, 'figure out what I want to be when I grow up.")

As with most transplant patients, Mike and his family are now tasked with raising thousands of dollars in funds to assist in paying for anti-rejection drugs and other essential medications he must take for the rest of his life to keep his new kidney healthy.

With the help of the National Foundation for Transplants, they learned how to form a Transplant Fund Committee, and set up fund-raisers to raise the dollars that will remain in Mike’s account with the Foundation’s NC Kidney Fund until such time as they are needed in the years to come.   Funds not only pay for drugs not covered by insurance (or Medicare), but also for a variety of possible transplant-related side effects and treatments that may not be covered either.  Mike has already experienced some of those transplant-related ailments, and takes medications for those as well. Additionally, transplant patients can count on funds in their account to help pay travel expenses (hotels, meals away from home, gasoline, etc.) for the dozens of trips to their medical facility required during the pre-transplant phase and for at least a year after transplant. The expense of that travel itself can be a tremendous financial burden.

Keeping all this in mind, Mike Daly’s Transplant Fund Committee, family and friends, set to work planning events immediately upon receiving news that his son’s kidney was a definite match.  Within 2 weeks of the actual transplant, a softball tournament was held, followed soon after by two dinner dances, a bake sale, auctions held by two different social clubs, and a letter-writing/word-of-mouth fund-raiser sponsored by a Catholic church where Mike’s cousin is pastor, and a Catholic high school.  Private donations have also come in through the National Foundation’s web site, bringing donations to date up to $22,000, about half of the amount recommended by the Foundation (every family’s needs will be different -- some will be advised to raise more than than amount . . . others, less.)  So there is still much work to do.

We ask you to support our committee’s work by buying tickets through this web site for a variety of upcoming events that may be held in your area; or by clicking through to the National Foundation for Transplants web site and doing a patient search for “Daly” where you can make a private donation.

Whatever you do to help, the Daly family thanks you . . . you will always be remembered in the family’s prayers as one of the many earthly angels looking after Mike in what has been a true miracle of life.