Atlanta man makes public plea for kidney for Christmas

ATLANTA - An Atlanta area man is holding out hope for a Christmas miracle, the gift of life this holiday season. Chris Miller needs a new kidney after doctors diagnosed him with stage one kidney failure.

“This won’t be permanent. This is a part of my life I got to deal with,” said Chris Miller, who needs a kidney transplant.

Miller strives to maintain a positive attitude but admits it’s not always easy after being diagnosed with kidney failure last December.

“I was working and I got sick. I noticed my body was swelling up,” said Miller said.

After seeing his own doctor, Miller went to Piedmont Hospital’s emergency where he received the grim news.

“I’m in stage one. One of my kidneys are not working, the other one is barely going,” said Miller.

A devastating blow for the 42-year-old who had recently lost weight to get his diabetes under control.

“I felt kind of down at the time I was like ‘wow. Something else I have to work through,” said Miller.

A financial analyst for Mercedes-Benz, Miller still works full time while undergoing nightly home dialysis treatments.

Under the care of Piedmont’s kidney team, Miller was placed on the transplant list about a month ago. His wish this holiday season is simple: the gift of a donor match and a new kidney.

“You know working a full time job dealing with this dealing with the stress the fatigue every day and then just having them understand what I’m going through every day is really, really hard,” Miller said.