Yovanni's Road to Recovery

Hello my name is Mayra and my little brother Yovanni is in need of some financial help after getting a kidney transplant from our aunt Lucia. I’ve asked one of his coworkers to write up a little bit about Yovanni and give you a good understanding of what this money will be used for and how much it will help. Here is what he had to say:

When asked his name and what he’s spent his life doing, my coworker and friend Yovanni Torres, answered “My name is Yovanni and I’ve spent my life turning negatives into positives”. And that’s the thing about Yovanni that makes him such an inspiration to me and everyone else who is blessed enough to get to meet him. From his birth in Mexico to his move to the United States at 12 years old when he didn’t speak English and was unable to participate in school like his peers, from picking sweet potatoes in South Carolina to making puff pastry in Chicago, Yovanni has kept an upbeat and thoughtful attitude towards every obstacle in his way.

Yovanni is 29 years old and for the past seven years he has lived with an End Stage Renal Disease diagnosis. For those who don’t know what ESRD is; it is a medical condition in which a person's kidneys cease functioning on a permanent basis leading to the need for a regular course of long-term dialysis or a kidney transplant to maintain life. It is end-stage kidney disease, it is kidney failure, it is a wrench in the cogs of a normal life, and it is what my friend Yovanni has been living with for seven long years.

For seven years Yovanni has been on medication, in treatment, getting medical tests, having phone calls with his team of doctors, in waiting rooms, in his bed hooked up to a dialysis machine three times a week, his mother next to him making sure all of his levels are correct and that the machine is functioning properly and that her son is comfortable. I asked him what the hardest part of this disease was and for most of us I think we might say the nausea or the pain or the absolute unfairness that life can dish out, but for Yovanni it has always been the uncertainty. Uncertainty of what the future holds for him or if there was a future at all, how can someone make a plan for a day, a week, a month, or years in the future when the road in front of them has been clouded by murky uncertainty for such a long time?

For the first time in seven years that uncertainty is beginning to fade, for the first time in seven years Yovanni is able to look to the future and imagine what might be right around the corner. On February 9, 2023 Yovanni recieved the gift of a lifetime, the gift of a future off dialysis, out of the three times a week treatment, the gift of being able to plan for a future, the gift of a new kidney. After the tragic passing of his beloved father in May of 2022, Yovanni was reconnected with family he had not seen in years. One of those family members was his Aunt Lucia who, upon learning of Yovanni’s situation, offered him a kidney.

I have personally been working in restaurants for 14 years and have never encountered someone quite like Yovanni. When he first started out in the industry, he was washing dishes and bussing tables, always lending a helping hand to his coworkers and managers and chef. With his tenacity and steadfast work ethic it didn’t take long for everyone to see that this wasn’t just some kid trying to make some money, this was a secret agent of all things culinary. He started with some knife cuts here and there helping with prep, soon after he was thrown onto the line for service and working the wok like a master. Not only did he work his way up through the ranks in the kitchen with hard work but managed to keep his playful attitude the whole time, never straying from his lighthearted demeanor.

After his father’s passing, Yovanni has had to step up and fill in the hole left behind. A self-described mama’s boy, he has had to help with rent and food and bills for his family by working two jobs all the while dealing with doctors and insurance and treatments. Still thinking of his sister and 5-year-old nephew over the holidays and showing us all pictures of gifts he had in mind for them. While the surgery is the beginning of a brand-new chapter in my friend Yovanni’s life it has just one major drawback which is he will be unable to work for the foreseeable future while his body heals and he acclimates back to regular life. That is the core of what this fundraiser is all about, besides the chance for me to get to tell you all about my friend Yovanni, it is to help him get back on his feet and begin his journey down what was once a murky road of uncertainty and is now an ever expanding highway of possibility.

I asked Yovanni what he is looking forward to most once he’s recovered and as humbling as ever, he responded “just having a regular day”. A day without treatment or nausea or pain, a day he can sit down and plan for a future he recently didn’t know he had. While we enjoy his company as a coworker, we love him as a friend, so when he told me after he’s recovered he wants to go to school, start a family, and move to the suburbs it was the double edged sword of seeing someone so deserving achieving their dreams while simultaneously missing out on seeing them every day with a smile and wise crack working along side you.

The last thing him or his family should have to think about is whether he can take off enough time from work to recover. The donations from this fundraiser will be used to cover the cost of rent for him and his family, bills, the cost of food, medical bills, and anything else that might present itself during his time of healing. I would like to personally thank every single one of you for reading this and taking a moment out of your day to hear a little bit about my friend Yovanni.