Kidney Transplant Donations Stolen After Town Rallies For Woman

ROCKY MOUNT, NC — A North Carolina woman who urgently needs a kidney transplant hasn’t lost hope, though some of the money raised to help her is lost after someone broke into her mother-in-law’s bait and tackle shop in Rocky Mount and stole a donation tin filled with cash.

Customers at Becky Joyner’s business had donated about $220 to help Stephanie Joyner, who has stage 4 kidney disease. The screen on the window was broken and the money was gone when Becky opened her business Tuesday morning.

Nothing else was missing. The cash register remained unopened. The merchandise was untouched. The heartlessness of the crime is numbing to the family.

“There are thousands of people like me that need life-saving organs — that need money for medicine or treatment, and people take advantage of that by stealing it,” Stephanie Joyner told WNCN-TV.

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“I am two points away from total renal failure, and I am in desperate need of a life-saving kidney transplant,” the 34-year-old woman said.

The money raised through donations will barely make a dent in escalating medical costs, which are approaching $20,000, even with insurance coverage. Blood transfusions every other week cost $240 a pop and are paid out of pocket.

When she saw the screen missing from the window, Becky Joyner’s heart sank.

“I knew without even going into the building something bad happened,” she told CBS News.

“We’re trying to make money every way we can to help,” she said. “It took me so long. Two months over two months, just to save that little bit.”

The goodness of people is overshadowing the bad, though.

“Wonderful friends matched what we lost,” Becky Joyner told CBS. “More people are aware of her situation. People have stepped up in my neighborhood.

“It just shows how wonderful people are in horrible situations.”

A GoFundMe campaign set up in March is getting renewed attention as news of the theft spreads. The goal is to raise $20,000, and it stood at around $2,000 midday Thursday. The transplant will cost around $17,000, above the medical costs she’s already incurring.

Stephanie Joyner was diagnosed with diabetes when she was 8 and kidney disease a couple of years ago. She has already undergone three eye surgeries related to her diabetes.

“Stephanie is best known for her spirit, and she has never let this 26 year-long hardship dim it,” wrote a friend who set up the account under the handle “Stephanie’s Cheerleaders.”

Stephanie Joyner was a cheerleader as a youth, and now is a volunteer coach for the Cougar Cubs cheerleading team at the local school. She teaches not only the mechanics of cheering, but also “the importance of never giving up and trying your hardest.”

“She is a role model for her young cheerleaders and for all those battling diabetes and kidney disease,” the crowdfunding page reads. “Now Stephanie needs cheerleaders to cheer her on and support her through this next and very difficult stage in her battle.”

Her friends and families also are asking people to get tested to see if they’re suitable donors. Those people should have either type A or O blood, and be between the ages of 18 and 55.

“Please, get tested to see if you can share your spare with Stephanie, who is most deserving of such a blessing,” the page reads. “She is someone who has given so much to her family, friends and cheerleaders — it’s time for us to give back to her.”

Photo of Stephanie Joyner with her husband and three children via GoFundMe, a Patch promotional partner.