Province residents Dawn, 68, and Alex Calamari, 72, spent five months searching for a kidney before turning to their last resort — social media.  

It had been an ongoing search since a string of ailments — sepsis, heart surgery and strong antibiotics — led to kidney failure for Alex.  

Alex started taking Remdesivir, an antiviral medication, when he caught Covid in 2023 which “basically took him down,” Dawn told InMaricopa.  

“I decided we’ve got nothing to lose, and his kidney function is down to 12%, so we need to do something now,” Dawn said. “I got up in the middle of the night and wrote this thing and put it out there and people have been absolutely amazing.” 

Dawn said medical staff at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix told her reaching out on Nextdoor was a good start to find Alex his much-needed Type O kidney.  

The couple, longtime Arizona residents from Burbank, Calif., received an outpouring of community support and prayers, including a couple of offers to help. One of those was a local woman who offered to donate her kidney, which was not a match, but donating it to the Mayo Clinic would free up a kidney for Alex. 

That hasn’t happened yet, but Alex and Dawn are optimistic it will come soon: “I don’t know how this is going to play out and I’m just trusting whatever happens, happens.” 

“It really gives you hope because there is so much negativity going on right now,” Dawn said. “It’s such a scary place, and to see the love that we’ve been given … even if you’re sending us prayers or kind wishes or good thoughts, all of it matters.” 

David Iversen contributed to this report.