Deacon Craig Camello knows exactly where to place his trust — in our Good Lord. As he waits for a kidney transplant, facing long timelines and unexpected setbacks, his faith remains steady. While the journey has included both hopeful moments and disappointments, he approaches each day as a gift. Rather than dwelling on what may come, Deacon Craig focuses on the present, trusting that God is walking with him through every appointment, every lab result, and every conversation.
“You live every day as what God has given you,” he says. “It’s the present. You can’t see what next week will bring.”
Deacon Craig has been serving as a deacon since 2018, about five of those here at St. Michael the Archangel.
Due to long-term kidney disease that has gradually progressed over the years, Deacon Craig now finds himself in need of a transplant. After closely monitoring his kidney function for decades, his numbers have declined to the point where he has been placed on the transplant waiting list.
There was a hopeful moment when his younger brother immediately offered to donate.
“Why not? You’re my brother,” he told Deacon Craig. After committing to the process, his brother even lost 30 pounds to qualify for donation. But during further testing, doctors discovered an enlarged right ventricle, making him ineligible to move forward.
Though disappointed, Deacon Craig remains grateful that the testing uncovered a health concern his brother might not have otherwise known about — another reminder that God is at work even in the unexpected.
“He was quite sad and apologetic,” Deacon Craig says. “I told him, ‘Don’t be sorry. This is good news for you. You found something you probably wouldn’t have known if you didn’t do what you did.’”
Deacon Craig is close to needing dialysis. With his blood type, it could be up to eight years before he’s able to get a kidney from a deceased donor. But here’s the amazing thing about the human body — healthy people can live with one kidney. Deacon Craig is asking people to consider being tested to donate. You may be a match or can donate through the paired exchange program.
“You might not be the right fit for me, but you could donate to someone else,” he says. “And that opens the window for someone else to become my donor.”
If you’d prayerfully consider donating, first ask around to others who have donated. It’s amazing how a person’s other kidney can pick up the slack.
“For a donor, they have to be in good health,” he says. “Everyone can survive on one kidney. My wife’s classmate had one kidney removed because it looked cancerous. He’s functioning on one kidney — no medication — because his kidney is operating at the capacity it should.”
The process begins with an online health assessment, followed by blood type testing and medical and psychological evaluations. Choosing to be an organ donor means giving hope—and life—to someone in need by passing on the priceless gift of life.
Deacon Craig is grateful for everyone’s aloha and asks us to keep him in prayer, and he will do the same for all of us. He knows it’s all God’s plan, and he’s trusting in Him.
