A YOUNG and healthy Jessica McCourt was 23 when she found out her kidney function was down to just 20 per cent.
Mum to her three-year-old son at the time, she'd decided to go on a health kick and broke out in a full body rash, which she put down to an allergic reaction.
When her GP did a blood test, it was discovered the cause was something far more sinister.
"It wasn't what I was expecting, I had no idea that you could not really have major symptoms and have almost end-stage organ failure," she said.
"That's something really specific to the kidneys, you can lose about 90 per cent of the function without any symptoms."
She was told she would need a kidney transplant or dialysis by the end of the year, but Ms McCourt managed to hold on for three before she received a donation with a seven-way match through the kidney exchange.
"That meant there were seven people on that day who did a live kidney transplant Australia wide, there would have been kidneys flying everywhere - I'd hate to be in the hospital," she said.
"From my understanding the donors all have to be in at the same time because if someone decides not to do a transplant, the whole chain falls apart."
Five years on, Ms McCourt is a martial arts enthusiast and is undertaking a science degree, this weekend she will take part in the annual Glow Walk - which raises funds for transplant patients and the Hunter Transplant Research Foundation (HTRF).
"It means they're able to improve the quality of life of a transplant patient overall," she said.
"The funding is really important to have more research and understanding, because the immune system is so complicated.
"I'm taking part because I think it's important to connect with my transplant community, we've all had the lived experience of going through it."
HTRF is the research arm of the Newcastle Transplant Unit at John Hunter Hospital.
Its research focuses on expanding the live renal donor pool using techniques to allow transplantation of highly sensitised recipients, blood group incompatible recipients and the use of kidneys restored after the removal of small cancers.
Those initiatives have helped double the transplant rate in the unit.
It's also looking into the development of a new immunosuppresive drug to replace more toxic drugs that are currently used, research into the two biggest causes of graft loss and mechanisms of immune tolerance which could remove the need to take anti-rejection drugs long term.
The Glow Walk is on this Saturday and locals are encouraged to light up the event wearing bright colours and costumes, with entertainment, registrations and a sausage sizzle from 1pm.
The two-kilometre walk will start at 3pm, for more information visit hmri.org.au/events/htrf-glow-walk-2023.
