Source: Courtesy of / 11 Alive
A 10-year-old Indiana girl has had a miracle come her way after she successfully received a kidney transplant.
Tween trooper Serenity Boyd finally got a second lease on life after she underwent a harrowing last couple of years. The 10-year-old suffered kidney damage after she battled COVID-19 three times. Thankfully, Serenity received her life-saving transplant in late April after a painstaking three-year wait, according to 11 Alive.
The outlet detailed that the Indiana tween’s transplant process was delayed every time she was diagnosed with COVID.
Before her transplant, Serenity underwent dialysis three times a week. The treatment helped her body do the functions her kidneys were unable to — such as flushing out toxins and excessive water from her blood.
Now, Serenity and her family have their hearts filled with gratitude and minds brimmed with the future’s possibilities.
When she grows up, young Serenity wants to help ill patients by becoming a nurse or grace the world with her voice through singing. In the meantime, however, she’s most looking forward to making big splashes in swimming pools with her friends this summer.
“I feel so better, and I feel so wonderful. I can drink whatever I want. I can eat whatever I want,” Serenity expressed since getting her transplant.
Quiana Culver, the child’s mother, emphasized that their whole family was beside themselves when the brave girl’s time on the organ transplant waiting list came to an end.
“I was so excited because I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. And I would call the transplant team like, ‘Hey, where is she at?’ I was so excited. I was crying. I called my mom. She was excited. Everybody was excited for Serenity.”
Serenity’s name coming up on the organ transplant waiting list was a major blessing.
John Hopkins Medicine noted that the connection between COVID and kidney failure is complex and still being researched. That said, C. John Sperati, M.D., M.H.S. informed the source that some people who got COVID suffered kidney damage even if they had no kidney issues prior to when the virus was contracted.
“Studies indicate more than 30% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 develop kidney injury, and more than 50% of patients in the intensive care unit with kidney injury may require dialysis.”
Donate America detailed that most children aged 6 to 10 on the pediatric transplant waiting list await a kidney transplant. The source claims 1,900 minors are on the list, and 25 percent of them are under 5 years old.
In America, 33 percent of adults are at risk for developing kidney failure, although it can happen at any age, according to the National Kidney Foundation.
African Americans are over three times more likely to have kidney failure than their white counterparts. The latter source outlined that in addition to a greater lack of access to healthcare, minority populations face higher rates of high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and heart disease — “all of which increase the risk for kidney disease.”
OrganDonor.gov reports that over 104,200 adults and children are currently on the national transplant waiting list — with a new person added every 10 minutes.
Tragically, 17 people in the U.S. die every day awaiting their transplant. Read about how to save a life down below.
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