An Edmonton woman is combing the province in search of a kidney for her younger sister who faces an uncertain future if she doesn鈥檛 find a donor soon.
For the past four years, Darlene Dalpe has watched her sister Renee Agnew become sicker and sicker as she succumbs to kidney failure. Agnew has been patiently waiting for a donor for more than two years, but hasn鈥檛 had any luck yet. In typical big sister fashion, Dalpe decided to take matters into her own hands.
Starting on June 15, the 50-year-old will begin walking from Edmonton to Jasper, approximately 365 km. She expects to arrive in Jasper June 21, and said she hopes the trek will help her find a matching donor for her sister.
Her family will follow Dalpe in an RV behind her as she makes the difficult trek. At the end of each day she will sleep in the camper and continue where she left off the following morning.
Dalpe said because Agnew has high levels of antibodies in her blood it鈥檚 been extremely difficult to find a matching donor.
鈥淭he doctors keep calling her a bizarre case鈥攕he only has a one per cent chance of finding a match and that鈥檚 why we鈥檙e getting desperate,鈥� Dalpe said. 鈥淚f we can catch the attention of 100 donors who would be willing to get tested then we just might find that one per cent.鈥�
Agnew has been struggling with illnesses practically her whole life, said Dalpe. When Agnew was 11-years-old she was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, which is what eventually caused her kidneys to fail.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been terrible to watch and you just feel so helpless,鈥� Dalpe said.
In the last four years Agnew was forced to start dialysis treatment every second day.
鈥淓verybody reacts differently to treatment, but for Renee it鈥檚 just been awful. She鈥檚 had so many complications,鈥� Dalpe said. 鈥淚n the past three months it鈥檚 been really bad with leg pains and sickness.鈥�
Before planning the trek, Dalpe said she had tried to raise awareness in Edmonton for her sister鈥檚 cause, but her efforts weren鈥檛 met with a lot enthusiasm.
鈥淵ou try to get the word out and people seem to ignore it because it鈥檚 not cancer or a heart disease or something like that,鈥� Dalpe said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e really trying to get people to think about becoming donors while they鈥檙e still living.鈥�
According to the Kidney Foundation of Canada, donating a kidney is the most frequent type of organ donation and a kidney transplant is the most successful transplant procedure.
According to the foundation in 2014, 1,430 kidney or kidney-pancreas transplantes were done. By the end of the year, there were an additional 3,473 patients remaining on wait lists. The number of people living with end-stage kidney disease has grown 38 per cent since 2005.
After Dalpe arrives in Jasper she will be hosting a kidney awareness talk in front of the new library and cultural centre on June 22 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The afternoon will include a free barbeque, but donations are accepted. She is currently looking for guest speakers to share their personal experiences with kidney disease. Dalpe can be contacted at 780-691-4547.
Those interested can follow Dalpe鈥檚 journey on Facebook by joining 鈥淩enee鈥檚 Walk A Day In Her Shoes.鈥�
Any money that鈥檚 raised will go towards Agnew鈥檚 medical bills and the Kidney Foundation of Canada.
Kayla Byrne [email protected]
