My father was diagnosed with Alport Syndrome when he was 25 years old. After close to 3 years on dialysis, he received a kidney transplant from his mother in 1995. A remarkable 17 years later he found himself back to square one. However, this second round of treatment seemed to take a greater toll on his body. Complications such as decrease in vision, loss of hearing, and heart problems soon began to follow. He suffered 3 heart attacks, 3 strokes, and a brain aneurysm as a result of a-fib, high blood pressure, and calcification of his heart valves - all due to his kidney disease. He later developed esophageal cancer and as the internal bleeding progressed, his body could no longer withstand the dialysis which led to his eventual passing two years ago at the age of 55.

I run to honor my father, the amazing life he chose to lead despite this disease, and his desire to give back.

I run to support the lifechanging work of the National Kidney Foundation:

- To ensure that families will have a place to turn when they need answers.
- To keep up the fight for policy changes to protect kidney patients and living donors.
- To drive innovation in transplantation and get more loved ones off the kidney transplant waitlist.

Join me in making these advances possible by donating to my efforts!

Thank you for your support!