Man Who Turned His Life Around Now Needs A Christmas Miracle

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Daris Lee needs a Christmas miracle.

His kidneys are shutting down and have been for a while. It's been 12 years since he was originally diagnosed with kidney disease and since then, for three days a week, he gets dialysis.

His doctors tell him he needs a donor as soon as possible.

"For me to get that kidney it would be a second chance at life," Lee said.

To Lee, finding a donor would mean a fresh start.

He grew up in Bonton, an extremely underserved community in South Dallas. His decisions led him to living a life of crime.

When he was younger, he was sent to prison for aggravated robbery and drug possession.

Lee is now the manager of Health and Wellness at Bonton Farm.

Despite turning his life around, he says he feels like a prisoner again-- this time to his own body.

"I got this strong determination to fix a lot of the things I broke, so a lot of the times my heart will be telling me to do something that my body can't physically do," Lee said.

When you go to Bonton Farm, you'll see rows of growing vegetables.

The farm creates jobs for the city's most vulnerable, including former inmates.

Daron Babcock is the farm's CEO.

"We have a lot of men and women that come here from incarceration, or homelessness, or domestic abuse, or human trafficking, or even suicide intervention, and so this is a place where they come and we help, Babcock said.

He and Lee have created a bond. Along with fighting food insecurity, earlier this year the Texas legislature passed the Bonton Farms Act, which helps former inmates wipe fines from their records when they're released.

Babcock tried to give lee a kidney, but he wasn't a match.

"He's just a brother to me; we're friends," Babcock said.

Daris' blood type is B positive and says while he continues to be a helpful force in the community, he's praying that soon a miracle will come.