Just weeks before his senior year of high school was set to end, 19-year-old Justin Lepri of St. Augustine was diagnosed with advanced Stage 5 kidney failure. He now needs a living kidney donor to avoid a future where dialysis is his only option.
According to News4Jax, Justin spent nine days in the hospital before his kidney failure diagnosis.
Why His Parents Can't Be Donors
Justin's parents, David and Madelin Lepri, are not potential donors. “It rules us out,” the family told the outlet. That leaves Justin's sister, Jasmine Lepri, as the family's most immediate hope — she is currently being evaluated to see if she could be a match, and she has said she hopes to be able to help her brother.
Despite the diagnosis, Justin walked across the graduation stage at Nease High School just days after being released from the hospital, a moment his family has pointed to as proof of his resilience. Jasmine has also praised her brother's humor throughout the ordeal, even as the family navigates the uncertainty of his medical future.
Waiting List Could Mean Years Without a Transplant
Justin has been placed on the National Kidney Transplant Waiting List, which already includes more than 109,000 people in the United States, per the family's account to News4Jax. His parents estimate the wait could take four to six years — though UF Health says the typical wait for a deceased-donor kidney runs closer to three to five years. The discrepancy underscores just how long and unpredictable the process can be for patients without a living donor.
The national kidney queue remains large, though the count depends on how it is measured: 2024 federal transplant data counted 147,091 kidney-list registrations, including candidates registered at multiple centers, and 28,492 kidney transplants that year. The figures show both the scale of demand and why a national list total may differ from the number of individual people waiting.
Justin is A-positive and can receive a kidney from donors with A or O blood types, a detail that matters because compatibility testing is central to the living-donor process. Potential donors are evaluated for compatibility.
Blood type is only one part of determining whether a donor and recipient are compatible; transplant centers also conduct medical testing before deciding whether donation is safe and appropriate. If a willing donor is not a direct match, kidney paired donation may offer another route: donor-recipient pairs can be matched with other pairs so each recipient receives a compatible kidney.
Who Can Step Forward to Help
The family is seeking a living donor for Justin. The Lepri family's health insurance would fully cover all medical expenses for a living donor, removing a major financial barrier for anyone willing to be tested.
The family says its insurance would cover a donor’s medical expenses, but prospective donors may want to confirm what the policy includes. Federal guidance says recipient insurance generally covers donor evaluation, testing and surgery, while travel, lost wages and some follow-up care may not be covered. Transplant centers also provide an independent living donor advocate to explain risks and help protect a donor’s interests.
The family has also launched a fundraising page seeking $100,000, which had already raised more than $30,000 as of the News4Jax report. The family is seeking donations through the fundraiser. The family has additionally set up a donor questionnaire for anyone interested in being screened as a possible match.
For now, Justin's parents say finding a living donor could be the difference that saves their son's life, even as they wait to learn whether his sister will prove to be the match the family is hoping for.
