A gift just in time for the Christmas holidays.
An Arkansas family will celebrate Thanksgiving differently this year compared to the last decade after it was discovered that a mother had the cure that saved her son’s life in her hands.
Kenneth Grantham, 31, has been living with IGA nephropathy, a non-curable kidney disease, since his diagnosis in February 2012.
“It was on my 20th birthday when I had my first scan,” Grantham, who goes by the name Chase, told KARK.
Although he lived with the disease for more than a decade, his kidneys began to fail and he soon needed a transplant.
“I have now moved from stage 3 to stage 5,” Grantham said.
Twenty of her friends and family were tested to see if they were compatible to be Grantham donors, and her mother turned out to be the answer.
Autoimmune disease occurs when clusters of antibodies are deposited in the kidneys, causing inflammation and kidney damage, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Kenneth Grantham, 31, has been living with IGA nephropathy, a non-curable kidney disease since his diagnosis in February 2012. Kenneth Grantham, 31, has been living with IGA nephropathy, a non-curable kidney disease since his diagnosis in February 2012. KARK
The disease is most common in East Asian or white European men between 10 and 40 years old.
After suffering several medical setbacks along the way, relief finally came for the mother-son duo as they were approved for surgery in December.
“They were words you had been waiting to hear for a long time,” said the father of one of them.
Karen Wright says she didn’t hesitate to become a donor for her son when she found out he was a match because “it’s something a mother does.” KARK Kenneth Grantham lies in a hospital bed with his son and his future wife. He has been living with the disease for more than 10 years.KARK
Grantham mother Karen Wright said it has been a journey to get to the point they are at now.
“It’s been very emotional,” Wright told the outlet, saying he didn’t think twice about becoming a donor. “It’s something a mom does. You know how people say, ‘How could you do that?’ and I’m like, ‘How could you not do that?’ “It’s your son, it’s what you’re supposed to do.”
When she first learned about her son’s rare illness, Wright decided to become a nurse to help even more.
“I just decided I was going to go to school and become a nurse so I could know what they were talking about,” she said.
Twenty of her friends and family were tested to see if they were compatible to be Grantham donors, and her mother turned out to be the answer. KARK Wright and Grantham show off the matching tattoos they got after Grantham’s diagnosis.
Although he has had to deal with difficult situations over the past decade, Grantham says some good came out of it.
“It’s made me slow down and appreciate things that wouldn’t have happened,” Grantham said. “It’s made my mom and I and all my family members closer.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn