WEST RICHLAND, Wash. –
On New Year’s Day, we spoke with Captain Ray Newton of Benton County Fire District 4.
Captain Newton has polycystic kidney disease and at that time he was looking for a donor.
While Captain Newton is still looking for a donor, he might have one sooner than he thought.
“My friend that lives in Spokane from high school. He was blown away and he was like hey man, I’m O-positive, I want to see what I can do and that day he was filling out the paperwork,” said Newton.
Captain Newton has been asking the public for help in getting tested and see if someone has a kidney they would be willing to donate to him or anyone that may need one.
As far as getting that kidney…he didn’t have to look far.
“To find out that he was in need was kind of an immediate thing to see if it’s a situation that I could help. No second thoughts at all” said David Divine.
David Divine and Captain Newton have been friends since Divine was eight years old.
“We moved in down the street from him, I rode my bike past his house and have known him ever since,” said Divine.
Newton and Divine have stayed in touch and take yearly fishing trips together.
Divine said that until he saw the news story Non-Stop Local did on Newton, he didn’t know he was dealing with kidney disease.
Divine says he’s still in the questionnaire phase of the testing and had his medical records sent over to Virginia Mason Clinic to Newton’s kidney specialist.
The next phase is the bloodwork.
Newton is a private person and doesn’t like to bother people with his problems.
Newton is a firefighter through and through, always putting peoples’ needs above his own.
I asked Newton today how things were going since the last time I talked with him.
“I’ve had my good days and my bad days, but today is a good day,” said Newton.
Newton had to take a few days off of work but doesn’t like to.
Newton is focused on eating better and walking every day per the doctor’s orders.
Newton walks on the treadmill at the fire station to keep in shape.
Newton said he didn’t realize how much people care.
When I told him about his story’s views on social media, he said he figured only about 100 people saw the story, when I told him that over 1,000 people have seen the story and shared it about 40 times, he was overwhelmed.
Captain Newton’s message to the community support is “Thanks to everybody for wishing me the best of luck and their prayers and everything else. I appreciate it,” said Newton.
Captain Newton and his family are holding a fundraiser selling tee shirts in support of his battle against this kidney disease.
Newton says that a portion of the proceeds go to him and whatever is left over will be donated to Virginia Mason or another kidney disease clinic.
The shirts won’t be here until March, which coincidentally is National Kidney Disease awareness month.
