Alphonso Jefferson: Tour DaVita Rider

Alphonso Jefferson calls himself “just a country boy,” but he’s developed a strong sense of purpose and compassion during the many years he has spent on dialysis. 

Alphonso, who is now 39, joined the Army as a young man and experienced kidney failure while still in the service.  He received a medical discharge and by 1997 he was a 23 year old in the Veterans Administration hospital with much older vets wondering what was going to happen next.

By his own account Alphonso went through a very difficult time as a young man dealing with the consequences of dialysis and had to work through depression and despair to find the strength within himself to move forward.  Today Alphonso is a real estate agent in Virginia Beach, Virginia where he lives with his wife Jackie and two-year-old son Preston.

According to Alphonso, who rode on the Tour DaVita® for the first time last year, “I really enjoy stopping at the dialysis clinics and letting people see it’s not a death sentence – that you can get out and live your life in a full and complete way.  I remember how it was for me and wish that I had someone back then who could point the way.  It’s a simple thing, but I think it is important.  If you can beat the mental aspects, the physical is nothing.”

“I don’t consider myself special,” Alphonso concluded.  “You can let dialysis define you or make it just another thing in your life.  You can beat it.”