PHOTO BY ANDREW WEST
spotlight |
Frederick Massey, 18, studies on his laptop at his Lehigh Acres home. Last November, he was diagnosed with kidney failure and had to go on dialysis for several months before receiving a kidney transplant from the Memorial Transplant Institute in Hollywood.
‘I WAS ALWAYS HEALTHY’
B
Riverdale High teen survives kidney failure, gets new lease on life after transplant. | BY ANDREW SODERGREN
eyonka Sapp couldn’t fathom what was happening to her son. Frederick Massey was a promising sophomore linebacker and safety for the Riverdale football team last fall — a healthy athlete with a seemingly bright future ahead of him. The trouble began subtly, as she began getting calls from school that
Frederick was falling asleep in class and didn’t want to do much work. “That was so unlike him,” she recalls. “His energy level and effort had always been so good.” He started losing his appetite and finally, the swelling started. “He had swelling all over his face and hands,” she says. “And his eyes were yellow and dilated. I knew I had to get him to the doctor.”
If Beyonka hadn’t gotten Frederick checked that day in December, he could have died. When he arrived in the emergency room, his blood pressure was 200 over 130, almost twice the normal of 120 over 80. “The first thing I did when I got to the hospital was pray to Jesus to please help my son,” she says. “I had no idea what was wrong with him and why this was happening.”
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA PARENT & CHILD » NOVEMBER 2020 » 29
