The community is rallying around a Morden man struggling with the financial challenges of travelling to Winnipeg twice a week for dialysis treatments.

"It has helped, and it's not just me, there's dozens of people in the Province that need financial assistance... it's a great expense to travel back and forth, and it's something you have to do."

Greg Quinn explains travelling to Winnipeg for treatment is a ten-hour ordeal, made worse during the winter months when road conditions worsen. "It's just very stressful."

With a cataract in his right eye, Quinn relies on paying drivers to receive treatment. It costs approximately $110 per trip.

While doctors recommend dialysis three times a week, Quinn says travelling to Winnipeg twice a week is all he could afford.

Then when Health Minister and Morden-Winkler MLA Cameron Friesen announced six new dialysis beds at Boundary Trails Health Centre, just ten minutes from his home, Quinn was elated.

"It would be a great benefit for me, I'd jump at the chance to go for three treatments a week," Quinn says. "It would make me feel so much better. I can't stay on twice a week, down the road I will run into problems."

Friesen says the expansion will double dialysis capabilities at BTHC, "we know that will make a difference in the lives of people who need these life-sustaining services."

He notes one in three Manitobans are at risk of developing kidney disease at some point in their lives, "we are responding as a government through investments like this to make sure that people are getting access to the treatment they need, closer to home."

Along with more dialysis beds, Friesen says they're working to encourage kidney donors. On April 4, 2018, there were 22,902 registrants for Sign up for Life. Since the tragedy in Humboldt and the inaugural Green Shirt Day last weekend raising awareness on organ donation, the number on the has increased to 34,823.

However, as Quinn waits for the additional beds to open, and will hopefully secure a spot, he continues to rely on support from the community. Friend Lisa Zaretzky-Arnold saw the need and started an online fundraiser to help pay for transportation costs.

Zaretzky -Arnold says the cause hits close to home as her own step-father was in this exact situation in Northern Manitoba. Watching her parents drive two hours each way, three times a week, was heartbreaking, she says, "they had no life, it sucks up all your energy and it's extremely expensive as well."

And while there are supports in place for cancer patients, she says there are fewer options for others who regularly travel to Winnipeg for other medical needs.

To donate, click here.

Related article: Six-Patient Dialysis Expansion Coming To Boundary Trails Health Centre

Boundary Trails Health Centre will see a six-patient expansion of dialysis services.