April is Donate Life Month and on Tuesday Rady Children’s Hospital held a special ceremony celebrating successful kidney transplants.
Since last year, 13 young lives have been transformed thanks to kidney donors. Many of them were at Rady's with their families Tuesday where they had a chance to ring the hospital's "transplant bell" and mark the end of what for many is a years-long treatment process. Kids wore capes that read, "donate life" and walked down a hallway filled with teary-eyed hospital staff and families before ringing the bell.
Among those celebrating was six-year-old Brooklyn All. She was born with one kidney and it had a tumor nearby. After undergoing four rounds of chemotherapy the tumor was removed, but the operation left her kidney damaged, and Brooklyn needing dialysis. When her doctor's said it was safe to get a transplant, her dad Andrew stepped in to give her one of his.
"This is kind of like the last part of our journey — so to be able to ring that bell was amazing," said Andrew All.
Andrew said it was nearly six years of treatments before Brooklyn got her transplant in January. She is doing well post-operation.
"She’s an incredibly brave girl and I think that’s going to show when she’s older," Andrew All said. "She’s never once complained about going to dialysis, all the pokes that she was given."
Now Brooklyn does not have to go through dialysis, which is a regular procedure to remove toxins. She can focus on being a kid again. She loves salad, popsicles and playing chess.
"A chess master," Brooklyn said of her playing abilities.
Not all transplant recipients have to come from a living donor, but those kidneys tend to last longer.
"We can give our time, we can give our energy but to actually give an organ — that’s unbelievable," said Dr. Elizabeth Ingulli, medical director for Rady's kidney transplant program. "It really does change lives, especially for kids, so (they) are no longer tied to a machine."
Fifteen-year-old Merari Hernandez was diagnosed with kidney disease four years ago. She said being on dialysis "sucked." Last year she was able to get a transplant and said ringing the bell Tuesday was an emotional experience.
"It feels amazing, not gonna lie," Hernandez said. "My mom always says i'm like the bravest person she knows because I’ve been able to face the challenges."
Hernandez wants to become a nephrology nurse, and work with kidney patients.
"I also want to help kids who are going through the same thing I went through," she said.
Rady officials said kids typically wait one to three years to get a kidney transplant and there are 28 kids currently on the waiting list. Families never forget the call saying the wait is over.
"We thought we were getting a call for lab work but it was that call we were waiting for," said Kimberly Davis, the mother of 13-year-old Kahmal Davis who has undergone two kidney transplants.
Kahmal said getting that call was exciting. Post-transplant, he is able to focus more on the things he likes doing, which include playing the video game Minecraft and building with Legos.
"I’m thankful for whomever donated their kidney to my son," said Kimberly Davis. "I mean it was around his birthday time and that’s something money can’t buy — it was a great birthday gift to him."
Doctors said anyone who is healthy can donate one of their kidneys — and people can specify that it go to a child.
