Surrounded by Heroes

When you come from a family with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD), and you’ve had two transplants, you accumulate a few heroes along the way.

After a visit to ER at the age of 16, Karie (left) learned that she had PKD. It took Karie’s diagnosis of this hereditary disease to learn that her father, Neil, also had it although he presented no symptoms. They also discovered that her grandmother, Nan, had PKD. Unable to qualify for a transplant, Nan was on dialysis for 15 years until her passing at age 85. Enter Hero #1.

At 31, Karie was St. Paul’s Hospital’s first recipient of a living, unrelated kidney donation from her father’s close friend, Bob. Enter Hero #2. Shortly after, Karie’s father required a transplant and received a kidney from his brother, David, giving him 7 additional years of great health before his passing. Enter Heroes #3 & #4.

In 2012, after Karie’s first transplanted kidney failed, it was time for a second. Her partner, Lauren, came to her rescue - without a second thought, she graciously entered the Kidney Paired Donation program and donated her kidney so Karie could receive the one she needed. Enter Hero #5.

Karie and Lauren are photographed here at the 8th Annual Kidney Gala.

To riff off of a David Bowie song, if we could be heroes, just for one day, we could beat this, forever and ever.