Alice and Julia's kidney challenge
Alice Graham and Julia Young is raising money for Kidney Wales
Participants: Julia Young and Alice Graham
Story
This year we aim to walk, run, swim, cycle and kayak 1062 miles in aid of Kidney Wales. We are Alice and Julia, friends who share a very special bond. In 2019 Alice's kidneys failed and Julia donated the ultimate gift... a kidney!
We hope to raise £1062 for Kidney Wales which supports families though the many twists and turns that kidney failure throws at you. They buy much needed equipment for renal wards and support people on dialysis, particularly children.
1062 miles is the same as each of us walking the whole way around Wales (virtually) visiting all of the Welsh dialysis centers along the way, it's an organised challenge set up by Kidney Wales with over 200 people taking part.
Until 3 years ago we were normal family friends who shared picnics, walks and occasional long weekends by the coast. Alice then started getting ill with kidney failure sparked by a rare genetic disease. She started dialysis and the family walks continued, if now a little slower! Dialysis is grim, you feel rotten (it's like having a constant hangover) and every day is dominated by medical interventions so your freedom is very limited.
Fast forward 6 months and Julia arrived at Alice’s for another walk only to announce that she and (her husband) Hal had been tested for donation. Julia 'won' that family competiton as she was an almost perfect match. She would be donating her kidney in the next few weeks! A whirlwind of tests and about 6 weeks later the operation went ahead. Months of recovery followed for both of us – and yes that included lots more walks!
This kind of donation is not talked about much, so part of the reason for this challenge is to highlight and celebrate the amazing gift that is live kidney donation. We are, after all, living, swimming, cycling, kayaking proof that it works wonderfully well.