Morgan’s story – Raising money to keep lives free from kidney disease.
Raising money to keep lives free from kidney disease.
At age 13, Morgan Wishart was diagnosed with stage 5 renal failure. This was a very sudden and very serious medical issue, shocking both her and her family. From being an active, sporty teenager, she discovered she had less than 10 per cent kidney function!
Within days of her diagnosis, Morgan had to have a catheter fitted and was put on dialysis. She had to have dialysis for nine hours a night, seven nights a week and this only gave her another 10-15 per cent of kidney function.
“My life had turned upside down and I didn’t feel like a normal teenager anymore. I couldn’t do the things I normally did. I couldn’t play outside, I couldn’t go to my friend’s for sleepovers and I couldn’t go swimming. I was scared I’d get hurt or my PD catheter would fall out.”
Morgan’s only option was to have a transplant. Her parents were tested and her dad was found to be a match.
“I had the transplant in summer 2014, just a month before my fifteenth birthday, and began to get better. My dad didn’t think he made a big sacrifice; that what he wanted to do was to make me better again. But I know he did something pretty amazing. He gave me my life back.”
In 2016, Morgan had her kidney transplant almost two and half years. Her mum, Lynn, takes up the story: “In the last couple of years, Morgan has flourished. She still needs to go to hospital for her monthly check up and will have to do this for the rest of her life. She also has to take lifelong medicines, currently 20 tablets a day. But, on the whole, she has been keeping really well.
"I’m so proud of her, of how she handled herself when she was so ill, and now all the fundraising and awareness raising she does about kidney disease." Lynn, Morgan's mum
Morgan's fundraising journey
Since her transplant, Morgan has helped raise over £10,000 for Kidney Research UK doing various activities with the help of her friends and family. She’s taken part in the Glasgow Bridges Walk for the past four years – her first one when she was on dialysis – and aims to take part every year.
Morgan said: “I love doing the Bridges walk too; they are always huge fun. They are a great way to help raise money and I get all my friends to take part, too.”
On top of all this, she has also taken part in her first ever Transplant Games, held in Liverpool in July this year, where she won three bronze medals in the 200m, table tennis and ten pin bowling! She’s raised money by getting her school to take part in Go Purple Days, and even gave a talk on kidney failure and transplant at a coffee morning with her dad.
In September 2014, Morgan took part in a marketing campaign for Kidney Research UK and helped raise over £30,000. Her dad, Scott, said: “Without research, how do we move forward? Morgan, myself and the whole family have benefitted from research done, maybe ten years ago. The people who supported Kidney Research UK then, are the reason we were so lucky with Morgan’s transplant. If people keep giving now, imagine where medical science can go? Imagine where we could be in 15 or 20 years?”
Why get involved with fundraising?
Asked why she chooses to be involved with this charity, Morgan said: “The reason I support Kidney Research UK is because when I was diagnosed with kidney failure my life changed completely and, because I know how that feels, I want to be able to do things to help and make a difference to other people’s lives. Kidney Research UK works towards that too, funding essential research and scientific breakthrough.
By taking part in their events and helping to raise funds for the charity, hopefully one day there won’t just be a treatment for kidney disease, there will be a complete cure
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