Community Rallies Around Shelton Man Who Received Kidney From Dad

SHELTON, CT — Tyler Camp, who was the recipient of his dad's kidney on Tuesday, is recovering splendidly. Thanks to the generosity of the Shelton Community, he won't have to worry about his bills for the three months he is expected to be laid up before returning to work.

The journey to this point has been anything but stress-free.

Back in April of last year, Tyler got sick, was admitted to Bridgeport Hospital, where he got sick once more, contracting C. diff. Blood work and every manner of test followed. Two weeks later he got sick again; more blood work, more testing. One doctor finally determined, "these numbers are kind of out of whack," according to Tyler's mother, Peggy.

The family brought in a renal specialist, who diagnosed an acute disorder that was inhibiting Tyler's kidneys from functioning beyond 30 percent. Doctors determined he would need a new one.

More tests, and finally some good news: the experts determined Tyler's dad, Jeff, could be an acceptable donor. The bad news? Jeff would have to lose between 30-35 pounds, and get his blood pressure under control, before the surgery could be performed. So Jeff began to exercise like his son's life depended on it. Meanwhile, the family began their search for a contingency donor. The plan was to put off dialysis as long as possible.

"But then COVID hit, and everything stopped," Peggy said.

Not quite everything. Linda Tremblay, of Shelton, whose son has been friends with Tyler since middle school, recognized that the Camp family could use a helping hand or two.

Tremblay began the Facebook group "Tyler's Tribe" in September, to assist in the search for a donor. She also created a meal train for the family.

By the time the medical community had re-jiggered enough to handle cases like Tyler's, it was too late for him to avoid dialysis, which he began in June. His kidney function had dropped to just eight percent right before surgery this week.

That's when Tremblay created a GoFundMe for Tyler, "to hopefully compensate for the money he will be losing during the three months he will be out" recuperating after his surgery. Tyler works two jobs, as a custodian for both the elementary school and police station.

Peggy told Patch she hadn't really been focusing on the fundraising efforts leading up to the surgeries of her husband and son (for all the obvious reasons), and then it finally hit her.

"Oh my God, they have been unbelievable! When I got home last night (after the surgery) and finally had time to look at it all, I was so taken aback. I was speechless. I literally broke out into tears. The generosity — from not only our family, but friends... complete strangers! — it's been amazing!"

The pledges stood at $8,160 as of Thursday morning.

For Tremblay, good news is its own reward: "It just shows you that, with the times that we are in, when you basically don't hear anything good, there are so many great people doing selfless acts of kindness, and this is one of them!"

GoFundMe is a Patch Partner.