Seven-year-old Jimmy Tighe is shown in a hospital bed at Geisinger Medical Center after receiving a life-saving kidney transplant from a 24-year-old motorcycle victim in 1987.
Submitted photo
Jimmy Tighe needs a kidney
Jimmy Tighe is shown with his 11-year-old son, Jim, at a show at the Mohegan Sun Arena in the fall of 2019 after his appearance as Jimmy T as Elvis.
Submitted photo
Jimmy Tighe is shown with his finance, Paula Ferrara.
Submitted photo
Jimmy Tighe has been performing as Elvis Pressley since 1998.
Submitted photo
EXETER – Life hasn’t been easy for Jimmy Tighe, after all, when you look at him he seems like a healthy 40-year-old entertainer when donning his Elvis costume and singing all over Northeastern Pennsylvania.
In late 2018, his health took a turn and he needs your help.
According to Jimmy’s parents, Jim and Nancy Tighe, Jimmy was born with one kidney not functioning and the other barely working as a result; sustaining Jimmy was a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week job to keep him alive.
“When he was born, he was given six-months to a year to live,” Jim Tighe said, “He had one kidney was partial and the other didn’t work at all. The doctors told us to take him home and love him one day at a time.”
“He could barely keep any food down because of his condition, and we practically had to force-feed him to keep him alive,” mother Nancy said. “As soon as we did get to feed him, he would vomit immediately.”
Young Jimmy’s existence was critical and the only way to save him was by having a kidney transplant. That day arrived when he was just 7-years-old in 1987.
The Tighes felt blessed on the day they received a call notifying them a 24-year-old male from the Bloomsburg area died as a result of a motorcycle accident.
Jim Sr. said once they received the call, everything happened so fast and Jimmy had his new kidney just hours after the accident at Geisinger Medical Center at Danville.
“When he had the transplant his body size and weight was that of a 3-year-old,” Nancy continued. “It was like a miracle after the transplant, he began to grown immediately.”
In late 2018, Jimmy noticed he wasn’t feeling as well and testing backed up his suspicions – his donated kidney that has sustained him for 31 years had started to fail.
The real miracle has been Jimmy living with his donated kidney for 31 years, which is unheard of in the world of organ transplantation.
Jim and Nancy both agree that Jimmy has been taking care of his kidney since it was first transplanted by watching his diet including no alcohol consumption.
Many locals know Jimmy as Jimmy T as Elvis, an act he’s been performing since 1998 all over Northeastern PA and beyond. He even sang at Graceland Crossings in a competition in 2003 during the Images of the King Contest in Memphis, Tennessee.
“After seeing my first Elvis tribute artist 1998, I knew he wanted to keep Elvis’ memory alive,” Jimmy said. “I’ve met many of Elvis’ personal friends and even sang with his back up singers, The Sweet Inspirations.”
Since his kidney’s failure and the advance of COVID-19, Tighe’s Elvis performances have been limited, doing only private shows for now.
He is currently doing at-home dialysis rather than going to a dialysis facility.
“I’m connected to a dialysis machine every night for 15 hours which is not easy; however, it is my life support. Without it, I would die,” Tighe stressed. “I want to stay alive for my 11-year-old son, Jimmy.”
Tighe is engaged to Paula Ferrara, whom he met in 2015 during one of his performances at Lake George, N.Y. Ferrara lived in Vermont at the time of the show and has since relocated to Exeter.
“Paula is my angel and she helps me with my dialysis daily,” Tighe said.
Tighe, a graduate of Seton Catholic in 1999, is in need of a kidney donor to survive and is registered with Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, and the Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown. He is hoping a living donor will step forward willing to give the gift of life.
“I am trying to find someone who is willing to get tested with any blood type to agree to do the pair kidney exchange option so that I might have a chance to find a living donor,” Tighe explained. “I have been waiting for my second kidney transplant a little over a year now.”
Tighe’s blood type is O positive but was recently informed he can accept any blood type.
“My insurance will cover testing, surgery and hospital stay,” Tighe said. “Please I really need a kidney donor; I have been waiting such a long time, and I have been through so much I deserve this as much as everyone else.”
Tighe explained 20 people die daily waiting for a kidney transplant and the average wait is 8 years for a donated kidney from a cadaver.
“I have had people say they wanted to help but they didn’t follow through I really need someone who is serious about helping me,” Tighe added. “I recently had a few close connections, but they fell through.”
If you are interested in helping Jimmy by donating a kidney, you can reach out to Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, by calling the Denise or Rachel at 570-271-6214 or Barbara or Stacy at 570-808-5590.
You may also contact Jimmy’s finance Paula at 570-430-9466. To learn more about the Kidney Paired Donation program, go to https://bit.ly/2Womizx.
“Please hear my plea and consider saving my life,” Tighe concluded. “I desperately need a kidney donor to live longer and better.”
