Patriots' Tom Brady makes donor appeal for mentor Tom Martinez a week before Super Bowl

Lifelong mentor to New England QB in desperate need of a kidney donor

Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots, took to Facebook recently to help his lifelong mentor, Tom Martinez (68), in his search for a kidney donor. Martinez has been a mentor and coach to Brady since Brady was a child and was forced to retire from coaching in 2005 after he was diagnosed with kidney cancer.

FOX News reports that Brady credits Martinez, a “highly-regarded quarterback coach,” for helping to teach Brady both the basics and complexities of playing football. Brady’s upcoming fifth appearance in the Super Bowl is a testament to Martinez’s superior coaching skill.

Since Martinez is now so ill and cannot travel easily, Brady makes frequent trips to his California home for mentoring and coaching sessions.

"I've been told I'm out of here, and I don't accept that," said Martinez of his bleak diagnosis of kidney cancer, says ABC News. "I'm going to fight to the end."

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Now, quarterback Brady is utilizing his power of fame to help make an appeal for help in the search for a donor for Martinez. Using his Facebook page, which currently boasts over 1.2 million fans, Brady urged followers to head to MatchingDonors.org to see if they can help.

The CEO of Matching Donors, Paul Dooley, is impressed with Brady’s appeal. "Tom is a great guy and has given us great visibility,"said Dooley. The number of applicants to be donors has increased “drastically” since Brady’s publicizing of the organization.

Unfortunately, none have proven to be a match for Martinez, but Dooley is hopeful that there are new applicants who can help others who are still in search of donors. There are more than 110,000 people across the country who are in need of donors.

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Nster.com