Long Island man who advertised kidney donor search on Times Square billboard has successful transplant
NEW YORK -- There is a happy update on a Long Island man, and one of our CBS News colleagues, who took his search for a kidney donor to the Crossroads of the World.
Times Square, one of the most popular spots in the world, is inundated with humongous advertisements. But one was a bit different in December 2020.
It was a picture of Great Neck resident Marc Weiner with the caption, "My name is Marc. I need a kidney! YOU can help."
"Being on dialysis isn't easy, and juggling a full-time job and a family. I want to be healthier, and the way to do that is to find a kidney donor," Weiner told CBS2's Andrea Grymes.
Weiner is married and works for CBS News. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2015 and lost both kidneys. He's cancer-free now, but was on dialysis three days a week.
Weiner was just looking for someone to donate a kidney on his behalf - not even a perfect match. That selfless act would punch his ticket to the National Kidney Registry voucher program.
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"Literally, the second they donate their kidney, sometime later on that day, Marc's voucher is activated and the computer is working, looking for one of those three, 4,000 people that are in that database who's going to be a match for Marc, and it potentially could start a chain," said Michael Lollo, of the National Kidney Registry.
All of it was part of a long journey that finally came to a joyful end this week.
Weiner and his wife, Lisa, joined CBS2 News on Sunday morning, their first morning back home after a successful kidney transplant at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Watch their interview here or in the player above.
For more information on how you can become a living kidney donor, visit kidneyregistry.org.