Published: September 28, 2009 03:20 pm      

Applebee’s hosting dining to donate

Benefits BHS grad with kidney disease

BROWNSBURG — The Applebee’s restaurant here will host a dining to donate event Sept. 29 to benefit a local man battling a kidney disease.

Kyle Froelich, 19, does nightly dialysis treatments for IgA nephropathy, also known as Berger’s Disease. Froelich is on the kidney transplant list, though doctors say it will be three to five years before he will receive a kidney.

His aunt, Kathy Hall of Pittsboro, said medicine and treatment costs are high for the family.

“He has medication that he has to take daily that can run his mother $700 a month. She’s now gotten it down to about $450 a month, and there are medications that are not covered by insurance, either,” Hall said. “He’s been doing dialysis for several years and he is now on a nightly dialysis machine. He has to spend at least six hours a night on a machine.”

Hall said Froelich does all of this while going to Ivy Tech full time and holding down a job.

“We have two annual fundraisers, they’ve both been held at the Fireman’s Raceway Pub in Clermont, and we usually do a couple of the dining to donate a year. We also have an open trust fund with National City Bank for him,” she said.

Froelich’s family will also have to cover part of the surgery costs when he gets a kidney transplant.

“He has O type blood, which is rare blood. We’re constantly looking for live donors and we’ve probably had 15 people tested,” she said.

Froelich is a graduate of Brownsburg High School and resides in Clermont.

Anyone who patrons the restaurant Sept. 29 from 4-9 p.m. can request a portion of their bill go to Kyle Froelich. Once requested, they will be given a flyer to present to their waiter or waitress and a portion of their bill will be donated.

Applebee’s is located at 2 Whittington Drive.

For more information, contact the restaurant at 858-0291.

Anyone that wants to be tested as a kidney transplant donor should contact the Indiana University transplant coordinator at 800-382-4602.

charlee.beasor@flyergroup.com