I'm going to ask that you read Kara's story - she needs a new kidney - her sweet and yet scrappy and battle strong little body has been fighting kidney disease that she was diagnosed with at just 14, and currently she is battling with the rejection of the kidney that originally saved her life when she received a kidney donation from a live donor when she was 15 .

Kara's story includes another story...that of Tiffany, who is an actual hero. A stranger to Kara who heard of her need for a kidney and donated one of hers - showing an amazing sacrificial love and an abundance of kindness .

They both share it much better than i ever could. They are both extraordinary people...I know you will agree.

First Kara's latest post

-I’ve been living with chronic kidney disease/failure since 2020 — I was only 15. Now at 19, I’m rejecting my transplanted kidney from 2021. You always know rejection is a risk, but you never really think it’ll happen to you… until it does.

The truth is, it’s exhausting. The endless hospital visits, test after test, specialist after specialist, changing how and what I eat, and now, hemodialysis — my lifeline. Sitting in that chair for hours, several times a week, watching the world keep moving while my life revolves around treatment. It’s not easy. It’s never been easy.

These pictures might just look like hospital pictures to some, but to me, they tell the story of survival, strength, and faith. Every needle, every line, every tear — it’s all part of a fight I never asked for but refuse to give up on.

There are days where I break down, days where I feel defeated… but I still show up. Because I’ve come too far not to. Because I have people who love me, who pray for me, and who remind me that I’m not alone in this.

This is what real courage looks like — showing up even when you’re tired, scared, and unsure. Still fighting. Still believing. Still here.

And from Tiffany (her donor in 2021)

-Did you ever want to write something so incredibly profound, so gripping, so heartfelt—-that every single person just casually scrolling through social media would just stop scanning their phones—stop, and read what you’d written?

Well, this is that post for me.

A few years ago (five this month, to be exact), I donated a kidney to an awesome 15 year old. She was the same age as my own daughter, I did warn her it might cause her to inherit my sense of humor (bad puns and all), but we were a perfect match for two complete strangers— and the surgery was an immediate success.

She got to finish high school, go to multiple homecomings, two proms, and started college last year with the goal of being a nephrology nurse.

Nephrology is study of kidneys.

It was a full circle thing – – and she and my former kidney appeared to be the best of friends, and were getting along fantastically.

But appearances can be deceiving.

My former kidney has decided to embrace its role as the villain in this story, and is no longer compatible with this young woman.

Kara is 19 now.

She should be beginning her sophomore year of college. She should be out on dates, and flirting, and falling in love over and over again, and staying up too late giggling with friends over stupid TikTok videos.

But she’s not.

Right now, Kara is on dialysis at Davita in Kentucky, and every day her situation becomes a little more heartbreaking— and Kara.

Kara needs another kidney.

One that can hopefully behave a bit better than mine.

And if you think of all the things you have donated and given away in your lifetime– – a cup of flour to the neighbors, coffee from Starbucks to friends, a $20 gift card for dinner, dessert to a coworker, toys for at-risk children at Christmas… this is a bigger ask for that.

A lot bigger.

But…but… we are born with two kidneys, and as it turns out, we don’t actually need both of them, and when I say kidneys are made to be shared, I absolutely mean it.

Do you know that when you lose one kidney, your other kidney increases in size and quietly and calmly assumes the responsibility of both kidneys? It doesn’t need any special favors and you don’t have to ply with promises and flowers – – it just keeps doing what it has always done— only better.

And when you donate a kidney, everything is paid for. The donor gets no hospital bills, no credit checks, no deductibles, no hits on your insurance.

But sadly, and this is one of the worst things about organ donation, many states have not yet recognized that organ donors need time off to recover after donating an organ— and being unable to get time off for the two or three weeks it takes to recover after donating a kidney is one reason most people hesitate to donate.

And you do recover.

Kidney donors recover 100% and we go back to our daily lives and our daily chores and our daily five miles runs (if that’s your thing—it wasn’t mine and I couldn’t run 5 miles before I donated a kidney and much to my disappointment, I can’t run 5 miles now) within a month of donating with only a tiny scar to show for the fact that we just saved somebody’s life with an extra organ that we can spare.

And Kara needs a kidney.

But she’s not the only one.

At any given time, there are 90,000 people in the United States waiting for a kidney.

Eleven people in our country die every day waiting for a kidney.

And these numbers suck, and kidney disease sucks, and dialysis sucks and so much more about this…just sucks.

Not everyone is a candidate to be a donor. There’s a lot of very strict physical restrictions and mental health rules and procedures that one needs to go through to become a donor, but never ever EVER think it’s not worth it.

Because organ donation? It’s not just about you: it’s about the countless lives you will change forever…the donor’s children and parents and grandparents and grandchildren that you will never see, never meet, never know—but who will always carry a piece of you with them.

Forever.

My best friend passed away heartbreakingly unexpectedly a decade ago this week—and K.c’s heart beats in someone else’s chest because she was a donor. Her eyes see in someone else’s face because she was a donor. Her lungs help someone else breathe every day because she was a donor.

Organ Donors Save Lives.

And Kara needs a kidney.

And if you are not in a position to donate, please know you absolutely ARE in a position to share this.

Because it’s entirely possible that somebody reading this on someone else’s feed might be a perfect match for Kara.

That’s what happened five years ago with her and I, and we’ve maintained a friendship full of joy and laughter and sometimes bad jokes and updates and and I know her mom and her grandparents and her dad and have followed them on all their adventures as they have followed me.

Four years ago, we met in person for the first time 12 hours before our surgeries.

And now.

Now, I’m simply asking for your help. For a young woman who is currently dealing with something no teenager should have to deal with, and for her family—dealing with situation that would break almost every single one of us.

Please— know you can share this, talk about this, steal this, highlight this – and if you want more information on how you can be the change, click here: https://www.kidney.org/kidney-topics/becoming-living-donor

Anyone can start the process now to become a donor.

If you want to take over from where my (former) kidney wimped out, note that this would be a Directed Donation for Kara Rae Snyder.

And that life you can change?

It’s your own.

Kara was initially diagnosed in June of 2020 - you can read that story here. https://www.gofundme.com/f/kidney-for-kara . And now she is again fighting that same fight...only now it also includes dialysis. She is strong - and she will win - please consider helping with all the expenses associated with it....and/or organ donation...and please lift her and her family in prayers.

Thank you