10-year-old Brooklyn girl desperately waiting for kidney transplant
UPPER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- A 10-year-old Brooklyn girl who is desperately waiting for a kidney is speaking out on her struggle over the last year, and she's doing it on World Kidney Day.
Khadijah Sabir's wish list is different from most children her age, because all she wants is a perfect kidney match.
"If they were a match, they would give me a kidney and I could play with my brothers and sisters and go out to the park with them," she said.
It's been a year-long struggle for the fifth grader since she was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure. She even blogged her story on the National Kidney Registry, but so far, no match.
"Everything has fallen down on us," aunt Rizwana Sabir said. "It was a really big storm that came on. We didn't know what to do, where to go."
But the Sabir family found their guiding light at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where they gathered for World Kidney Day.
Director of Pediatric Nephrology Dr. Eduardo Perelstein has helped Khadijah manage her symptoms through dialysis, but what she really needs is a healthy organ.
"If she gets a kidney that is not a good match, her body is going to reject it," he said. "And then we're going to have to go back to dialysis."
It is a scenario everyone is trying to avoid, as they focus on getting this young girl healthy and happy again.
"I want to say thank you for helping me out," she said. "Because of Dr. Perelstein, because if everyone else weren't here, I wouldn't be anywhere else for a kidney."
The Sabir family is hoping events like the one Thursday will help Khadijah find her perfect match.
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