Tina Garza told 13 ON YOUR SIDE each Lions win helps motivate her through dialysis until she can receive a kidney.
SAND LAKE, Mich. — A lifelong Detroit Lions fan continues to hold out hope for a run at the Super Bowl while also fighting for a new kidney.
Tina Garza became paralyzed more than a decade ago and then in 2022, related health problems caused both of her kidneys to fail.
13 ON YOUR SIDE first introduced Garza in 2023 after she chose dialysis over hospice in order to see her team make it to the Super Bowl.
At the time, she said, “I want one Super Bowl before I die, and I’m like, my boys fight every year, so I got to fight this too.”
After last season didn’t end in a Super Bowl, Garza is still fighting for that new kidney.
“As a Lions fan, I’ve said this is our year for 49 years, this year I truly believe it’s our year,” she said.
Heading toward Super Bowl LIX, Garza requires dialysis three times a week for more than four hours.
She said, “the way I look at is like, okay, we had a game, I got three more dialysis ’til I get another game, you know, or, you know, cool, we won, now I got three more to go ’til the next game, or, oh, there’s only one more left, it’s Friday, cool, then I get a football game out of it, so it’s kind of a motivator.”
As the Lions continue to play their best regular season ever, she added, “I had a friend say, well, what if they win the Super Bowl, then are you gonna give up? It’s like, no, cuz they might win another one and not all that it’s like, my boys didn’t give up for how many years, I’m not giving up either. They did it. So can I,” and, “maybe I’ll get a kidney right after that, who knows what could happen?”