Kidney donation saved Michigan woman's life, giving her new reason to celebrate Thanksgiving
Michigan woman has a special reason for celebrating Thanksgiving every year
Dayja Foster thought she just had the flu or a cold when she was 16 years old. A visit to the emergency room yielded far scarier results: kidney failure. It wasn't until Thanksgiving when she received a transplant, giving her a new reason to celebrate the holiday.
(FOX 2) - When Dayja Foster was 16 years old, she came down with what she thought was the flu.
But while her friends were thinking of prom and getting a driver's license, Foster was thinking about survival after learning she had end-stage renal failure - her kidneys had stopped working.
"It was very scary," she said. "Will I even have a future? What does it mean? Is it a death sentence?"
But the medical diagnosis was not the end. Instead, it set her on a path toward a new outlook on life. But not before several months of intense dialysis.
Armed with a team of doctors at Children's Hospital of Michigan, she eventually recuperated enough to be placed on a list for a kidney transplant.
Then at age 17, her prayers were answered - and just before the holidays.
"I always kept hope and then a miracle came," Foster said. "I got my transplant four days before Thanksgiving and was able to come home a day before Thanksgiving and celebrate with my family so Thanksgiving is always special for me."
"I can’t put into words how thankful and grateful for the opportunity for her to have the gift of life," said her mom Shelonda Foster Atkins.
Since her donation, Foster has finished high school, earned a degree from Oakland University and now, at the age of 24 she is working on a masters degree from Ball State.
But even as she grows, she says she never forgets where her life changed.
"Just look at my life as a testament to what organ donation can do and how it can help people," she said.