In many ways, Hailey-Ann is a typical toddler. Spunky and inquisitive, the two-year-old is up at the crack of dawn raring to go. She loves to spend time with her parents and her nana and baba in Nanaimo. She’s a huge fan of the Vancouver Canucks and the show Paw Patrol.
But Hailey-Ann’s life has been full of challenges. She was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) in utero, when her mom was 21 weeks pregnant. When she was born, her kidneys were 10.5 centimetres long. Healthy kidneys would have been closer to four centimetres. Recently another renal ultrasound showed her kidneys are now 13.5 cm – larger than those of most fully grown men – and covered in cysts.
Hailey-Ann’s kidneys are so large that they compress her lungs and stomach, causing difficulty with breathing and food intake. She has very high blood pressure that is barely controlled by medication, and even a common cold requires a visit to the hospital for oxygen treatments. Then there are the pills and inhalers, the doctor appointments every two weeks, and the trips to BC Children’s Hospital every three months for pediatric nephrology monitoring.
“It’s just a matter of time before her kidneys fail and she needs dialysis or a kidney transplant,” said Hailey-Ann’s mom, Kristina Grant.
“But the doctors give us hope and The Kidney Foundation gives us hope. They are like a second family to us.”
One of the ways The Kidney Foundation brings hope to patients like Hailey-Ann is through the annual Kidney Walk. Every year communities across B.C. and the Yukon come together and raise critical funds for programs and services to help kidney patients and their families, and they help shine a light on the importance of healthy kidneys and on organ donation.
For Hailey-Ann’s mom, that’s her dream: a world where everyone who needs a life-saving transplant gets one.
“To help make it reality, I hope British Columbians will take the steps to make a difference and join my daughter and me at the Kidney Walk this year,” said Grant.
In Vernon, the Kidney Walk takes place Sunday at Polson Park, with registration at 9 a.m. and the walk starting at 10 a.m. For more information, to register, to sponsor a walker or to register as an organ donor, go to kidneywalkbc.ca or call 1-800-567-8112.