North Caldwell Dad Of 3 Needs A Kidney Donor To Give The Gift Of Life

NORTH CALDWELL, NJ — A stranger's kindness could help Frank Reali get his life back.

The North Caldwell resident and father of three was diagnosed with kidney disease about three years ago. A longtime landscaper and bodybuilder, Reali is now consistently exhausted from the 12-16 hours a week he spends on a dialysis machine.

Donna Tissot of Denville is helping advocate for Reali, as she has for many people since she helped her brother-in-law find a donor in 2018.

Kidney donors give "a second chance of life," Tissot said.

"Dialysis is just a Band-Aid," she said. "It takes all the energy out of you, it affects your blood pressure and oxygen levels."

Reali, 54, and his wife Susan have three children: Michael, Marco, and Julia.

"He's at the point where he can't go on like this anymore," Tissot said. "His life just isn't what it used to be."

A kidney donation would help Reali have a better quality of life, she said. Reali is on the donation list at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center. To be a donor, click here and indicate on the form you would like to donate to Frank Reali, or call 973-322-5346.

Reali has an O blood type, but the Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center allows for a donor without O blood to give a kidney through what is called a paired exchange.

Tissot said her brother-in-law will celebrate four years with his donated kidney in February.

"I looked at him one day and I said, 'I've got to save his life,'" she said. Since then, she said, word got out that she was passionate about connecting those in need with kidney donors.

Tissot says she has saved 11 lives since she began her work as an advocate.

She and the Realis are hopeful they will make Frank the 12th, and not the last.