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Chef Yono Purnomo, founder of Yono’s Indonesian restaurant in Albany, suffers from kidney failure that has progressed to end stage renal failure.
In early October, doctors told him he would need a live kidney donation.
“It hit us both like a ton of bricks,” Yono’s wife Donna said on a Facebook page dedicated to the cause.
“We knew based on his declining kidney function over the past few years that dialysis would become a life-saving necessity. We didn’t expect his kidneys to fail within a 30-day span to a point that they no longer worked well enough to keep him alive.”
In April 2023, Purnomo began undergoing hemodialysis three days a week for nearly five hours at a time. That has since changed to peritoneal dialysis at home every day.
“This is his day-to-day reality,” Donna Purnomo said. “His treatment options are limited to dialysis or a kidney transplant.”
Those in need of a kidney transplant typically wait three to five years to receive one from a deceased donor, according to the National Kidney Foundation.
“Yono’s age, 72, makes this traditional transplant unrealistic,” said Donna. “Time is simply not on our side.”
Purnomo was recently evaluated by the kidney transplant team at Albany Medical Center, where doctors determined that his only option for a kidney transplant is from a living donor.
“A transplant would offer Yono the ability to live a longer, healthier life and to not only enjoy more time with his family, but to continue his work serving our community,” said Donna.
“There’s a really good chance that if you stopped to read this plea based on the photo of Yono, that he has in some way, big or small, touched your life.”
To help spread the word, Purnomo’s daughter Alexondra created a Facebook page called “Yono Needs a Kidney,” where people have shared videos of support.
The page also features details about Purnomo’s life and background, as well as information on live organ donation.
Purnomo opened Yono’s restaurant in 1986. The couple retired in 2022.
That August, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan was on hand as the city honored the couple by renaming the street in front of their restaurants, Yono’s and dp: An American Brasserie, to Chef Yono and Donna Purnomo Way.
“They have raised the bar,” Sheehan told the crowd. “Their legacy… has truly made this city a better place.”
The husband-and-wife duo is heavily involved with several Capital Region organizations, including SUNY Schenectady, SUNY Cobleskill, BOCES, The College St. Rose, American Red Cross, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the American Cancer Society.
“I believe very strongly in giving back to my community and it is important to me to help others in any way that I can,” Purnomo is quoted as saying on his Empire State Plaza profile.
Those interested in seeing if they’re a match can contact Jessica Martin at 518-262-4602.
More information on live kidney donation can be found here.
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