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World Kidney Awareness Day: The Need For Organ Donors

Posted at 8:04 PM, Mar 13, 2014
and last updated 2014-03-14 10:22:08-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (March 13, 2014)– It’s a vital organ in our bodies, yet some may not realize just how many are in need of one. Thursday is World Kidney Awareness Day, as people and organizations dedicate this day to spread the word.

For one West Michigan woman, she’s had to learn first-hand just how important a kidney is in her continued fight to survive.

For several years now Deborah Diaz has been going to dialysis after she had kidney failure due to her Lupus.

Her doctor, Phil Goushaw, says dialysis is becoming tough on Diaz’s body as its get more challenging to get the blood out of her body and cleanse it.

·         Diaz is now working towards getting a kidney transplant. According to the National Kidney Foundation more than 120,000 Americans are waiting for life-saving organ transplants, of those more than 99,000 await kidney transplants.

For more information on the National Kidney Foundation and the efforts here in Michigan: http://www.nkfm.org/

For more information on Diaz’s story: https://m.helphopelive.org/campaign/4425?2.6.596