Nemours/Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children, which treats a range of patients with many different health concerns, is sponsoring the Kidney Kids Walk and is entering a team (Kidney Kids) for the second year in a row. The walk will take place on Saturday, May 4 in Wilmington.
According to the National Kidney Foundation, almost 10,000 children and adolescents in the United States are living with end-stage renal disease.
The walk begins at Nemours/Alfred I. DuPont Hospital at 8:30 a.m.; there is a short and long walk route through the Nemours Estate. The event will include a number of activities including free face painting, crafts, free snacks and raffle items to raise money for the National Kidney Foundation.
The Kidney Kids team got its start last year and is a way to unite staff members for dialysis, patients and their families and friends. Last year, the team raised $10,000, the most of any participating team. Their goal this year is to raise $12,500.
Jody Cross joined the team after her son was diagnosed at age two and a half with Nephrotic syndrome, a kidney disorder that causes the body to excrete too much protein in the urine. She says her son was in the hospital for about a week and was prescribed steroids for a year. She worried he would have to stay on steroids and take frequent trips to the hospital.
“They had no idea why his kidneys stopped filtering correctly and started spilling protein. Most likely when he becomes a teenager, he will grow out of the disease,” says Cross.
According to Cross, Nemours hospital became the first hospital in America to offer genetic testing. Previously, in order to diagnose genetic components to kidney disease, lab work would have to be sent to Bristol, England.
“You can treat the disease more precisely when you have the genetic testing to back up exactly what the diagnosis is,” says Cross.
She says that symptoms for kidney patients aren’t always apparent.
“Their faces may be swollen from Edema (fluid buildup). Over and I over I hear from other parents saying, ‘Your child doesn’t look very sick.’ So looking at kidney patients going to school, you wouldn’t know how sick and how much they have to fight. Going to this walk and seeing a community of other kids going through and families that are experiencing what you’re going through it feels really good and empowering,” says Cross.
More information:
Kidney Kids Walk
Saturday, May 4 from 8:30-10:30 a.m.
The walk begins at Nemours/Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children, located at 1600 Rockland Road, Wilmington and continues to the Nemours Estate.
To donate to the Kidney Kids team or to join the team, visit donate.kidney.org/goto/kidneykids​.
If you can’t make it to this event, there is another walk scheduled on Sunday, Oct. 27 at Frawley Stadium in Wilmington.
