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74-year-old man wears a sandwich board to find his wife a kidney donor

Last week, a Utah man took to the streets with a giant sign in a desperate attempt to find a kidney donor for his sick wife.
/ Source: TODAY

It might be the most romantic gesture of all, but it doesn't involve flowers or proposals, jewels or fancy boat rides. Just walking alongside busy roadways with a sandwich board.

Utah man Wayne Winters, 74, started appearing alongside busy commuter routes in his Salt Lake City suburb last week with a gigantic white board advertising the following:

"Need Kidney 4 Wife," his sign read, with her blood type, A-negative, along the side, and his phone number.

Wayne Winters walking on highway
Wayne Winters walks along a roadway in Farr West, Utah. Smith, Michael (206490398) / KSTU

He quickly got local news attention and was bombarded with phone calls. TODAY reached out to Winters for comment, but had not received a response by publish time.

Winters told local news outlets, including KSTU, the Fox affiliate in Salt Lake City which first reported the story, that his wife, Deanne, had stage 5 kidney failure and he hoped to find her a match by getting visibility along the roadsides.

"She's on dialysis and she doesn't like it, it's horrible," he told the FOX station.

Winters said he met Deanne 26 years ago and that she was the love of his life. He said the days can be a struggle, but he hopes to soon see her return to her normal self.

“This is the worst I’ve ever seen her," Winters told KSTU. "She don't look good."

Instead of feeling helpless and watching her, he decided to pound the pavement, literally, in hopes of finding a solution.

Wayne Winters with sign
Wayne Winters shows off his sign to drivers in Farr West, Utah. He is walking every day to try to find his wife a kidney donor. Smith, Michael (206490398) / KSTU

“I felt like I needed to do something," he said. When they find a kidney match, he told the TV station, "I will have my wife back the way she was, normal, helping people, loving people; she likes to serve other people."

Drivers have stopped and talked to him about possibly donating, but until there is a match, Winters realizes he has his work cut out for him, walking the streets of Farr West, a town about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City.

He said even after he finds a match, though, he wants to keep helping people find kidney donors as a "life mission."