A young woman who has lived with kidney complications since the age of 17 is pleading for help from the public after being told she will not be placed on the deceased donor waiting list.
Sorchá Shaw experienced complications as a nine-year-old and her kidney problems “worsened” from the age of 17 onwards.
The condition has also impacted on job prospects for the 25-year-old, who has been seen as a “non-reliable” due to her deteriorating condition.
The Kilrea woman first realised she had kidney problems after being admitted to hospital at least once a month with kidney infections, which sometimes turned into sepsis.
“My diagnosis of kidney disease robbed my 20s from me,” she explained.
“I have been house-bound and a lot of the time bed-bound with sickness and extreme fatigue.
“I was severely underweight and not eating and my mental health was at an all-time low.”
Sorchá Shaw.
On Monday she was told that she will not be placed on a deceased donor waiting list for her kidneys because of a heart condition, meaning she has to find her own living donor.
Over time Sorchá’s health got progressively worse to the point she had been given a 12-month prognosis in May 2023 after spending three weeks in the ICU.
Her body had filled with fluid due to kidney failure and gave her empyema of the lungs.
She suffered a heart attack at the beginning of last year which required a triple bypass in December 2023. Post heart attack she was diagnosed with triple vessel heart disease.
“I also have nerve damage in my eyes and retinopathy, which has become quite severe,” she explained, “meaning that I will eventually lose my sight completely.”
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“My kidneys went from 60% to 9% in just over three years. They have told me that if I have a transplant this could slow down significantly which is amazing.
“I have been on dialysis since April last year, along with a few other issues.
“Getting a kidney transplant would completely change my life and would allow me to enjoy life again before losing my eyesight completely and I think it’s fair to say I don’t deserve any of this at my age and no one does ever.
“My consultants and surgeons have encouraged me to put out an appeal for a living donor and that is where the power of social media may come in.
“Up until now I never really knew how or who I would ask but it has gotten to the point where I am really in desperation. If you yourself would be interested in donating a kidney or if you know anyone who would and want to get tested for a match please contact me and I will give you my details and the number to contact to enquire. It would mean the absolute world to me.”
Sorchá Shaw.
The reason she is not suitable for the deceased donor list, she said, is because doctors want her to have the best quality kidney possible to decrease the chance of complications from the transplanted kidney ‘waking up’ or starting to work.
She continued: “If the kidney has to ‘die’ whether it is a good kidney or not, the speed in which they start to work can often be a lot slower which would cause a lot of stress to the body and cause other complications.
“They want to minimise these risks as much as possible to keep me safe. It just means I have to do the awkward thing and ask people to be tested.
“A living donor would mean there is someone out there right now who has the ability to give me a second chance at life. The sooner I find a donor the better because long periods of time on dialysis can be harmful to the cells and very stressful for the heart and also damaging to the eyes. It is essential that I find a transplant soon to relieve me from this.”
Speaking about the need to remain positive, Sorchá said she often looks around the waiting room at her appointments and thinks to herself that, “I am the youngest person in the room.”
She concluded: “It is hard because often I feel isolated from people my own age. But I still try to remain confident that the day will come that I get the call to say they’ve found a match.
“I try my best to take care of myself to stay within the eligibility. There are a lot of people out there who do not get a chance to make it through the things I have been through. I lost my daddy to similar complications.
“I try to stay positive and keep doing the essential things to keep myself as healthy as possible.”