BALTIMORE — More than 20 months after being diagnosed with late stage kidney disease, the wish of former Baltimore Ravens defensive player Lional Dalton has finally been granted.
Just before 11am Thursday, the Super Bowl XXXV winner known to fans as "Jelly Roll," tweeted that he was on his way to Johns Hopkins Hospital to begin a life saving kidney transplant.
Here we go! Headed to @HopkinsMedicine in @CityofBaltimore to begin my life saving kidney transplant. My donor is truly a hero, saving my life, but you all are the reason he heard of my story. I will continue to keep you updated! @Ravens #RavensFlock @NFLPAFmrPlayers @nfl #nfl pic.twitter.com/bPcr1fy5nA
— Lional “Jelly Roll” Dalton (@jellyrollkidney) August 26, 2021
WMAR-2 News followed Dalton's journey.
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For a while, the odds of finding a match looked slim.
His blood type is O-negative, which is said to normally take 5 to 8 years to find.
As of May, there were 107,000 people awaiting a life-saving organ transplant.
The identity of Dalton's donor has not yet been revealed.
