This is about a good friend who is facing sickness and death if he doesn’t find a kidney donor within six months.
He isn’t from Everett but given the circumstances he might as well be.
He could be from any city or town.
He could be you or I.
What he faces any one of us could face.
First off, this man is facing his difficulties with grace and charm, and with dignity.
He knows the score. He isn’t complaining.
But he needs a kidney donor – and this is a thing much easier said than done.
My friend’s name is John Nucci.
He is a well-known guy who is the Vice-President of Suffolk University and a former Boston City Councilor and School Committeeman from East Boston, where he grew up in a working class Italian home.
Maybe some of you might recognize his name.
His name is not what matters.
What matters is who he is and what he needs to stay alive.
John Nucci’s entire time in government is marked by his willingness always to try to do for others.
This is John Nucci’s reason to exist in life – to do for others.
He is an unusual man being like this, so giving to others and wanting nothing, ever, for himself.
And he is a humble guy who has known great success in his life.
He’s got a great wife and great children – two sons and a daughter, all of them educated, proud, and successful like their father before them.
This piece is about a big ask for someone you might not have known or heard of.
Pretend it is about yourself, or your child, or your brother or sister or dearest of friends and you suddenly find out they need a kidney or they are going to disappear.
If you know anyone who has type O blood willing to do this, if you are willing to give someone else life, then you need to get in touch with the Massachusetts General Hospital.
The link is www.MGHlivingdonors.org.
Let them know you want to do a favor for John Nucci.
Thank you and God bless you.