I served six years active duty in the United States Air Force. I was stationed at Eglin AFB and Hurlburt Field as a Dental Assistant and completed two years in the Air Force Reserves at Charleston and left the military with the rank of Staff Sergeant. I served during the first Gulf War but was never deployed. In addition, I wrestled for the All-Air Force team in 1991 and represented the Air Force at the Olympic Training camp as a Greco Roman participant.
I am starting my 20th year as a teacher and teach at Creekside High School in St Johns, Florida and the subject I teach is AP Human Geography. In addition to my teaching duties, I am the wrestling coach at Creekside. I enjoy teaching and coaching at Creekside and would like to continue until I retire. Both teaching and coaching keep my mind busy and allow me to help students reach their potential in and out of the classroom.
My wife Francine is a nurse, who works in Administration at Baptist Medical center in Jacksonville. She is my biggest supporter and my rock during this process.
I was diagnosed with Kidney issues about ten years ago, but in May 2023 they both failed, and I have been in peritoneal dialysis (PD) ever since. I am fortunate that I am doing manual treatment, which allows me to do my dialysis during the day and at school to give me the ability to continue to teach and coach.
This takes a lot of management on my part—carrying supplies everywhere and working on my dialysis treatments around wrestling practice and wrestling events. My wife has urged me to give up coaching, but coaching keeps me mentally and physically active.
My wife and my family love going camping with a travel trailer and traveling. Currently, we do minimal camping due to my limitations, and I do zero travel because it is too difficult to manage my dialysis away from home for more than a couple days. We would love to travel through the country to see the great places in the United States; we hope a living donor will be found soon so that wish will come true.
For medically cleared donors, giving the gift of life through living kidney donation has been proven to be very safe. DOVE will assist all prospective donors throughout the process and make sure they do not incur any out-of-pocket expenses related to the evaluation or surgery. A healthy person can live a normal life with one kidney and save Rick’s life with the other!
Your support, whether through spreading the word on social media or considering becoming a donor, can make a profound impact on his life and the life of his family!
Please click on the link below if you would like to learn more OR call (551) 233-1611