A 25-year-old woman from Cavan who undergoes dialysis three times a week after kidney failure at the age of 16, is urging everyone this Donor Organ Awareness Week to become a donor.
Gabby Zemgulyte, came to Ireland from Lithuania when she was 12 years old. A wheelchair-user, doctors discovered she had kidney failure after she fell out of her chair. Complete kidney failure followed at age 16 and she has been on dialysis since the age of 18.
Gabby was determined to live as full a life as possible and passed her exams with distinction by studying during her hours of dialysis. She says a kidney transplant, however, would completely change her life for the better. "You go to dialysis because if you don't you die, that's the reality of it, "Gabby told Northern Sound, "You have to keep the kidneys healthy as much as possible. The quality of life I have at the moment would be way different to what I could have if I had a transplant because I can't work full-time, I can't travel as such. I have dreams of my own book, getting my own business, I'm studying anatomy and physiology at the moment."
