MISSOURI CITY, Texas -- A 13-year-old boy is waiting for the phone call that could save his life, KPRC Local 2 reported Sunday.
Nick LeGrand is like a lot of teenagers -- he's a huge sports fan.
"It would be so cool to play baseball, basketball and football," he said.
But he can't play. He's attached to an oxygen tank 24 hours a day. Nick only has 19 percent lung function and is constantly short of breath.
He was diagnosed with primary pulmonary hypertension when he was 3 years old. His lungs don't function properly.
"Right now I have severe chronic rejection of the lungs, which means my lungs are saying, 'Hey, these aren't my lungs,' and fighting against them," Nick said.
He had a double lung transplant 10 years ago, but they are giving out.
He's in Houston from Iowa with his mom. He was on the transplant list there until the hospital back home lost its certification.
"We were told this is the best place to be, so that's why we're here," Kelly LeGrand said.
The mother and son team moved to Houston on Dec. 31. They haven't seen the rest of their family in six months.
"It's really hard. We've been through some difficult things. Nick lost his grandma about a week ago. It was hard not only losing her, but not being there for the other kids and my husband," Kelly LeGrand said.
Nick isn't alone, but said he wanted to tell his story in hopes of raising awareness for organ donation. There are about 96,000 people on the transplant list in the country, including 7,000 in Texas.
"We've never once prayed for the organs to come in," Kelly LeGrand said. "We don't do that. We just pray that people are given the knowledge that if they are going through something that they understand instead of losing two lives, maybe they could donate their organs."
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