After mother's donated kidney fails, 21-year-old Lake Crystal woman in need of new one
Searching for a new kidney
Taylor Antony, 21, of Lake Crystal has had a rare kidney disease since she was born.
LAKE CRYSTAL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Desperate for a new kidney, a 21-year-old Lake Crystal woman is hoping someone could be the perfect match for a kidney donation.
Taylor Antony has had a rare kidney disease since she was born and her struggles are unimaginable.
She’s already had 37 surgeries and just last month, she was told the kidney her mother donated to her years ago is now no longer working.
“I have always had this mindset that I’m 10 feet tall and bullet-proof,” she said.
That mentality was rocked a few weeks ago after Antony suffered two seizures and spent the majority of January in the hospital.
Doctors gave her the depressing news that there wasn’t a lot of time on her side to find a new kidney.
“I remember I just sat there and cried,” she said. “Not necessarily thinking that it wasn’t fair, but just wondering why I had to go through that and why anyone has to go through it.”
Antony was born with a rare kidney disease and, when she was 6 years old, she desperately needed a transplant. Out of all the possible donors, her mother was the perfect match.
“We always knew the day was going to come that that kidney wouldn’t last forever,” said Antony’s mother. “She’s had my kidney for 13 years, so we do have a lot to celebrate because a lot of people aren’t that lucky.”
The clock is ticking to get her daughter a new one and doctors say it will take well over four years if they wait on the transplant list. So, Jill Antony is taking to social media, television and anything else to help her daughter stay alive.
“I know that there is a kidney out there for her and I’m hoping that someone can see this and hear her story and feel moved to fill out that form to donate the kidney,” she said.
In the meantime, Antony has to undergo dialysis treatments multiple times a week to keep her going as she waits for the right person to step up and save her life.
“If you are my match, then we are going to be in this together and I’m going to take super good care of that kidney,” she said.
She is in search of an O Positive or O Negative kidney.
If you are wondering what blood type you have, you could go donate blood and find out. Or, if you’ve had a child, you can call your OBGYN clinic and find out.
So far, 15 people have signed up to donate, but there is a lot of testing that happens to see if donors have the right antibodies and it has to be a perfect match. The more people who sign up, the better the odds.