Lifelong Phillies Fan Pleas for Kidney Donation to Save His Life

A lifelong Philadelphia Phillies fan is issuing a public plea to the City of Brotherly Love for some love to help him live.

AJ Tantala, a 25-year-old Langhorne, Pennsylvania, resident, needs a kidney transplant and has placed six billboards with his appeal for help. The billboards feature the Phillies' brand typeface and a photo of himself on opening day, along with a website address, kidney4aj.com.

According to a CBS News Philadelphia report, Tantala was born with posterior urethral valve syndrome. He suffered from kidney failure when he was 2 years old. An emergency surgery resulted in kidney disease.

"For the first 22 years of my life, I was just naive to it," Tantala said. "I was ignoring it."

Approximately three years ago, his condition worsened. Tantala's kidney function dove to about 10%, making the need for a kidney transplant unquestionable.

"We've had 19 different people come forward and try to be donors for him," his mother, Penny Tantala, told CBS News Philadelphia. "There's some small medical condition that would prohibit them from being a donor."

A kidney donor would give Tantala a life-sustaining organ and allow him to achieve his biggest dream: living life to the fullest surrounded by his loved ones.

Tantala said he hopes the Phillies-inspired billboard will move people to consider a kidney donation. "I love the Phillies. I know so many people out there do, too," Tantala said. "I thought if I went that route, it wouldn't just reach more people but the hearts of a lot more people."