COLUMBUS, Ohio — There are more than 103,000 men, women and children on the National Transplant Waiting List, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration.

Approximately 86% of those listed need a kidney, and it can be a years-long wait causing even more health complications.

But it is possible to skip the list and be fast-tracked to a transplant if a living donor gives one of their two healthy kidneys to the person whose organ is failing.

Tommy Barnes said he was always the picture of health. He watched what he ate and exercised regularly.

“My doctors call me an anomaly because up until the moment I had surgery, other than my blood and lab work, I had no symptoms that this was going on,” he said.

A fixture on Mansfield-area airwaves for 35 years, Barnes was forced to temporarily sign off from the radio when doctors said his nearly decade-long battle with failing kidney function required a transplant.

“Two of my sons immediately, and just fearlessly, decided that they wanted to be living donors,” he said.

His youngest son, Tyler, was a match.

“When I realized that my son was going to go through all the protocol, I literally was living that with him every single appointment,” Barnes said. “Wanting to know how his appointment went, whether or not he was going to continue down the path.”

With both men following through the entire process together. Even pulling into the parking lot at the same time for their August transplant surgery.

“Walked in the door together with our wives,” Barnes said. “Immediately split. He went one way, I went the other.”

Tyler gave his dad one of his kidneys. And the gift of a lifetime.

“I’ve been doing radio for 35 years,” Barnes said. “Can talk all day long, but with something like that. The emotion was just raw. It was energizing. It was comforting. And here we are both recovering and doing really well. And I’m so grateful for that.”

At a recent appointment at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center’s Comprehensive Transplant Center, Barnes received a post-surgery checkup from Dr. Ajay Thakur. Thakur said Barnes was a good candidate for the procedure because he took good care of himself.

“Because, remember, people in your age could have waited for four or five years for a cadaver kidney to, you know, come up and get transplanted,” Thakur said to Barnes.

Thakur is a transplant nephrologist and said receiving a living donation is much better for the recipient.

“It works right away,” he said. “And the longevity of that kidney is also very, very good. So, it lasts longer. It works better.”

“It was like it was supposed to be there the whole time,” Barnes said, speaking from his experience.

Thakur said the transplant can be scheduled after months of rigorous testing of both the recipient and donor, ensuring they are a good match, the organ is healthy, and helping the donor avoid any negative health impacts.

“There is a very small risk,” he said, “but the benefit is by far the greater because you can truly, you know, save a life.”

Those risks include a minimal chance of high blood pressure or kidney problems in the future, Thakur said.

But saving a life can outweigh the risk. Now Barnes and his son share a bond beyond blood.

“Because of the journey, you two became much more deeply connected,” Thakur said to Barnes.

“We became one,” Barnes said.

“You became one,” Thakur said. “And now imagine a piece of your son lives in you.”

To become a living donor, you must be older than 18 and in good health. You can direct your organ to a specific person or help someone you don’t know who’s on the Transplant Waiting List.

The process is completely voluntary and you can learn more on the National Kidney Foundation’s website, kidney.org.