SAN ANTONIO — Juan Federico Martinez served three decades as a border patrol agent and City of Del Rio police officer.
For the past year and a half, he has been in need of a kidney. He's been surviving off his dialysis treatment and is looking for a donor.
Martinez describes himself as someone who always cracks a joke in the room. He enjoys fishing and building barbeque pits in his spare time. But for the past few days he’s been in the hospital.
He’s served the Del Rio community he was born and raised in and now he’s looking for the community to have his back.
From the of age 21 to 34, Martinez defended the people of Del Rio as a city police officer. For 20 years, he guarded the border.
“Started out in Uvalde, then Brackettville and then Del Rio," Martinez said.
But now he says his body is vulnerable.
“I’ve kind of learned to live with the pain every night,” he said.
Diagnosed 13 years ago with primary FSGS, Martinez describes it as a ‘slow’ disease.
It’s a condition that can lead to kidney failure. He’s had 17 possible donors come forward but they had pre-existing health issues.
“The last gentleman was like two weeks ago and I was thinking this guy was gonna be the guy and he got declined and now I'm back at square one,” Martinez said.
His wife of 24 years, Patricia Martinez has been by his side every step of the way.
“It’s been a very difficult journey,” she said. “He has good days and he has bad days where he feels tired or fatigued. It takes a toll on both of us.”
The condition can only be treated with dialysis or a kidney transplant. He is waiting for a miracle.
“I want to be able to travel with my wife now that I’m retired," he said. “Here I am, I’m still struggling to stay on this Earth and keep moving forward.”