DUNNVILLE—Jodi Park and Alex Byrne have been friends for 30 of their 36 years of life, during which time Byrne has long admired her friend’s loving, passionate persona and determination to fight for what is right, whatever the situation.
It’s because of that love and admiration that Byrne is launching an awareness campaign, hoping to find a live kidney donor who can help her friend out of a potentially life-threatening situation.
Wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend to many, Park is 36 years old and a support worker for Community Living Haldimand, where she helps people with disabilities.
“To the naked eye she is a beautiful, healthy middle-aged woman, but that is not what is happening on the inside,” said Byrne of her friend. “Jodi is in kidney failure and has 9% kidney function.”
Park was born with a kidney malfunction, called Vesicoureteral Reflux, a condition where urine flows backward from the bladder into the ureters and sometimes up to the kidneys. It can lead to infections and kidney damage over time.
“Jodi has been in kidney failure her entire life due to this condition but only found out when she was 16,” said Byrne, noting that Park has worked closely with nurses, doctors and specialists from a young age, but even closer over the last six years to monitor her kidney function level and blood levels.
Byrne said dropping lower than 9% functionality without dialysis and a kidney transplant is life threatening.
Despite her struggles, Park has strived to lead a full life, playing baseball in a Dunnville women’s league and a co-op league in Smithville while juggling her responsibilities as a mom of four (two biological, two through marriage).
However, according to Byrne, Park’s doctors have advised her the time has come to go on the transplant list and start dialysis.
“Jodi will be picking her dialysis choice and beginning the journey soon,” said Byrne. “This will allow her body to take a rest from working overtime like it has the last few years.”
Park explained what it has been like to live with kidney failure, “For years I was very lucky to have very little side effects if any! It’s only been the last six months I have really noticed a big change. My kids and husband are how I make it happen. I use most of my energy these days to go to work and they pick up the rest. I’m so grateful to have them!”
Friends and family hope treatment will help Park’s body stay as healthy as possible while awaiting a transplant and give her the best chance for success with a new kidney, leading to the active search for a live donor.
St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton has a live donor questionnaire on their website, available at:
stjoes.ca/hospital-services/kidney-urinary-services/living-kidney-donor-program.
Participants will be contacted by the hospital team and should know their blood type before beginning.
“There are options to being a live donor. If you are a match, you can give a kidney to Jodi or if you’re a great candidate yourself, but you don’t match 100% with Jodi, there is a buddy program called kidney paired donation,” said Byrne.
She explained, “If you want to donate a kidney but aren’t a perfect match for Jodi but turns out you are a match for another transplant candidate in another pair, and the potential donor in that pair is a match for Jodi, they will swap donors and make two transplants possible.”
Byrne stressed how a successful transplant will give her close friend the ability to return to her cherished life as “the loving mother and wife she is.”
“She loves and cares very hard for those close to her,” said Byrne. “We have gone through childhood, teenage years and motherhood side by side. I was the maid of honour in her wedding back in October 2022. I have watched my friend go through this for years and now it is time to take action and the least I can do is bring awareness about needing a live donor.”
While daily medication and interaction with her team of doctors and nurses will always be a reality for Park, Byrne said it’s all worth it to have her friend “here on earth with us to live out the remainder of her young life with her loved ones.”
Park explained for herself how a donation would impact her life.
“Getting a kidney would let me play and run around with my kids. Not have to spend so much time napping. To laugh and not worry anymore. Feel joy again. Do the things I love like play baseball with my husband and friends again. A kidney will also allow me to remain working, supporting people within the agency, I love my job.”
Those interested in learning more can find Bryne’s group, ‘A Kidney For Jodi’ on Facebook.
Byrne is also preparing a website and will be distributing flyers and lawn signs with a QR code for the website.
For more information on kidney paired donation, visit:
blood.ca/en/organs-tissues/living-organ-donation/kidney-paired-donation.
For anyone interested in becoming a potential donor, contact St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton Transplant Department at: 905-522-1155 ext. 32156 or livingdonors@stjoes.ca.
