California man hits the streets to find mom a kidney

VACAVILLE, Calif. (KCRA) - It's not unusual to see people wearing sandwich boards on the street, trying to advertise a business or push an agenda -- but one man decided to use the same means to help save his mother's life

"To be honest, I have seen a similar story online," said 22-year-old Geoffrey Dinoso, of Vacaville. "A man did the same thing for his wife and he got the exposure. The news covered him and he got what he wanted."

What Dinoso wants is for someone to donate a kidney to his mother, Maria Dinoso, who was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease two years ago.

"All of a sudden, I got very sick," Maria Dinoso said. "When I went to the emergency room, they did a lot of tests, and the tests came out that I got kidney failure already. I was very scared and I didn't know how to tell my kids."

Her son thought the kindness of people -- amplified by the power of social media -- would allow the family to spread three simple words plastered on a sandwich board: "Mom needs kidney."

"She means the world to me," Geoffrey Dinoso said. "She's my mom. She's been there for me all my life. It's the least I could do."

He's gotten varied reactions, from people asking about the back story to offering to donate money, which he said he's refused.

"A bunch of people came up to me, took pictures of me and posted it on Facebook, so I'm all over the Internet, apparently," Geoffrey Dinoso said.

Maria Dinoso had no idea her son would try to assist in that way. He wasn't going to disclose the sandwich board idea to her until KCRA 3 asked Maria for an interview.

"I was very surprised," Maria Dinoso said. "I was crying. I didn't know he would do that for me."

They both hope someone, somewhere, might be touched enough to donate a kidney.

"Without it, my mom's going to (continue) being on dialysis," Geoffrey Dinoso said. "And the longer you're on dialysis, the more harm it does to your body, so that's why I'm trying to get this done as quickly as possible."

To get in touch with Geoffrey, call 707-439-1024.