EL PASO, Texas -- "There's always something different going on in dialysis,” explained Juan Pena, the technical supervisor at Fresenius Medical Care. “This morning, they called us in at 4:30 a.m. because we had one of the pumps go out."

Pena has been the technical supervisor at Fresenius since 1992, and knows how important his job is.

"We’ve got to make sure everything's running so the patients can have their treatments,” he said.

Some may consider it a burden to know others’ well-being lies in their hands, but Pena welcomes the challenge.

"They tell you 'This machine is doing this and that,' and I like to have that challenge to get that machine going back up to normal,” he explained.

But there's one machine Pena can't get back up to normal. The man who fixes dialysis machines, is now attached to one three times a week.

"It’s different when you're actually going through it,” he said.

After nearly 20 years of working on the machines, Juan has been undergoing dialysis himself for about a year. He said the treatments have a big impact on his energy level.

"I was thinking I’ll dialyze in the morning and get off at 8:00 and then go to work, and I had another thing coming,” he said.

Pena is now awaiting a life-saving kidney transplant.

"I just wish it was like, now,” he said. "I think it'd be the best thing that could happen to someone."

While he keeps busy fixing machines, he knows a donor kidney is the only thing that will fix him.

"I wish I could just go in there and fix my kidneys, but I can't," he said.

As Pena continues his work, doing what he can to save lives, he encourages others to do the same by becoming organ donors.

"It’ll really make a difference for someone, you know. Someone who really needs it,” he said.

You can help Pena and his family make ends meet during his treatment. There will be a benefit car show in his honor Sunday, March 11 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Elk’s Lodge parking lot at 1211 E. Cliff Drive. To register, contact Gilbert Garcia at (915) 497-9327. Admission is free, but they will be accepting donations, and all proceeds from food sales will also go to Juan’s benefit account.

You can also help dialysis patients like Juan by registering as an organ donor. KFOX has made that easy for you, just click under the health tab at the top of this page.