CREDIT: LISA MOORE-CALCUTT
Last year, the Gift of Life Walk saw over 200 participants. The event raised approximately $32,000 for the Kidney Foundation.

"Taking steps inspiring hope." That's the theme for the Kidney Foundation's Give the Gift of Life Walk this year being held on September 23. The Foundation is hoping to bring 250 walkers to Gibbons Park, all working together to raise $32,000.

Registration for the Give the Gift of Life Walk begins at 10 a.m., and the walk begins at 11 a.m. Walkers can choose to participate in either a 2 km or a 5 km walk. After the walk is over, participants are invited to a barbeque.

Participants typically include dialysis patients and their families, living donors, family members of deceased donors, and doctors. Rizwana Ramzanali is the Fund Development Officer for the Kidney Foundation of Canada and she said she's seen the walk grow so much every year. "I feel that our message is getting out to the general public, because I see participants who attend the walk and have no affiliation with kidney disease or transplantation, but it's because they care to be there and help make a difference."

Seven-year-old Ryley Mitchell will be at the walk sharing her story with the crowd. "Ryley is an amazing young girl from Woodstock," said Ramzanali. "She received a heart when she was only seven months old." Ryley will speak out about the gift of organ donation.

Ramzanali highlighted some numbers, "We currently have over 1,600 patients in Ontario waiting for a kidney transplant, and unfortunately it's always been that way, if anything it's grown over the years."

Sharon Biskaborn will be the other guest speaker; she just had her transplant on July 11 at University Hospital under the care of Dr. Norman Muirhead and Dr. Patrick Luke. She is hoping her message will give patients on dialysis hope and explain to them that recovery doesn't take too long. She is also hoping to raise awareness. "Before I had a problem, I knew the function of kidneys, but I wasn't aware of how important they are, so I just think we need to get more information out there."

Twenty-one months ago, Biskaborn went to the emergency room after discovering a rash on her upper torso. She found out that a virus had infected both of her kidneys and she only had 20 per cent function left. "They loaded me up with some heavy-duty steroids, (and) I did not sleep for five weeks except for an hour a day," Biskaborn shared. "They put me on a diet that was kidney friendly, but I had a relapse after four weeks and began dialysis." Biskaborn said she felt much better while on dialysis but admitted it wasn't always easy. "The biggest issue was if you had a blood pressure drop, you were down for the rest of the day — you were tired, just no energy." Biskaborn was put on the transplant list on February 9 of this year and was lucky enough to have her transplant from an unknown donor this summer.

Ramzanali is an organ donation recipient as well, having received a kidney and pancreas transplant. Dialysis became a large part of her life as she completed treatments three times each week for seven years. "There are things that are very hard to cope with," she explained. "Diet is one of the biggest challenges; every food you eat is not good for a patient on dialysis. Things such as tomatoes, potatoes, lots of fruit, coconut." Dialysis patients are also told to avoid dairy products such as milk and cheese, whole grain products, canned foods and nuts.

Ramzanali doesn't know who her donor family is, but she is very thankful that she was lucky enough to receive a double transplant. "The life I'm living now is very normal. It's just nice waking up every morning knowing I don't have to take my insulin shot, don't have to test my sugar or glucose. When you're on dialysis, your kidneys are not functioning, all the fluids you consume are collecting in your body. I don't have that problem anymore, and it's amazing. I think the life I've lived since my transplant is a gift to me."

Ramzanali encouraged others to donate and help out for those who aren't so lucky. "The money raised goes to programs and services for our patients," she pointed out. "One of the pieces of information we provide to them is a binder. It's got all the information about the journey they are going to embark on, this is provided to them by The Kidney Foundation." The money also goes into research initiatives. The foundation has already raised over $100 million for research.

With over 10,000 Ontarians currently living with kidney disease, Ramzanali said the most important goal is truly helping those in need. "We want to make a difference in the lives of patients living with kidney disease, we want to help ease the burden they live with every day."