By Ariella Weiss | Special to The Salem News Mar 8, 2023
BEVERLY — David Ryder, an Army veteran and a Realtor, has spent the better part of the last three years searching for a kidney donor.
Ryder, 65, grew up in Salem and Peabody, and has lived with his wife, Cathy, in Beverly since 1989. He served as a paratrooper and a photographer during two deployments in the Army and has worked full-time as a Realtor since 1990, running his agency Ryder Realty Inc., until treatment for his kidney disease began requiring twice-weekly dialysis in 2020.
He was diagnosed with kidney disease 30 years ago, but only started dialysis in 2020 and has been in urgent need of a kidney transplant since then. The genetic condition, polcystic kidney disease, has permanently damaged his kidneys. He said the process of finding a donor has been “very exhausting.” He’s been on a Mass General Hospital waiting list for a deceased donor’s kidney with his blood type for almost six years.