USA: Destiny Bergeron, 23, has spent two years on the donor list waiting for a life saving kidney transplant while her days and nights revolve around dialysis. Diagnosed with stage 5 kidney disease that began in her teens, she now endures 11 hours of dialysis at home daily and the crushing limitations that bring. The transplant is her clear path off machines and back to a normal life.
Her decline accelerated at age 20 when a sudden, terrifying episode at work turned into a diagnosis that upended her future. Headaches, visual disturbances and mounting exhaustion led to emergency care, eye surgeries and an official determination of end stage kidney failure. The physical toll has been relentless, and even modest ambitions like steady employment have been out of reach as treatment schedules and recovery dominate her routine.
Family and friends have rallied. Her mother, Dawn Meineke, described the pain of watching her daughter suffer and said she is heartbroken that she cannot provide a living kidney donation herself and would do so in a heartbeat. After two years on the list, a social media appeal drew more than 20 people who signed up as possible organ donors. Medical teams are now evaluating whether any of those volunteers can match for a transplant.
The story underscores both the promise and the precariousness of transplantation medicine. For Bergeron, the wait for a matching kidney means prolonged dialysis, ongoing surgeries, and a stunted young adulthood. For the donors who stepped forward it represents hope and urgency. As the search for a match continues, the clock and the machine keep running, and the single word that could change everything is transplant.
Bergeron and her family remain hopeful yet exhausted as medical teams continue testing volunteers and prepare for the life changing kidney transplant they need.
