LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - A Lubbock man is sharing his journey after being diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure in hopes of raising awareness and finding a living donor.

Leonardo Santiago worked at the Lubbock County Detention Center as a jailer for less than a year.

He started feeling sick in 2022, and what he thought was the flu turned out to be kidney failure.

“I immediately said when can I go back to work. I was really more thinking this isn’t a bad case and it turned out to be the opposite,” Santiago said.

Since then, his life has changed dramatically. Santiago has spent years in and out of the hospital and now relies on daily dialysis to stay alive.

Despite the challenges, he said he’s found strength through his wife, who has supported him since the very beginning of his diagno

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