Joshua Nelson was born with one kidney that didn’t work at all and one that was small and didn’t work well enough for him to survive without dialysis. He was four days old when he had his first peritoneal dialysis catheter placed through surgery. At age six, his mother donated a kidney to him. Joshua wants everyone to know what a difference transplants make to people and families. “I’m living proof – and I’m loving life! Thanks Mom!!!”

Joshua's Story

“My mom gave me life – twice. How many people can say that? I can!” declared Joshua Michael Nelson. “I’m 13 years old and six years ago, my mom gave me one of her kidneys so that I could feel what living really is!”

Joshua was born with one kidney that didn’t work at all and one that was small and didn’t work well enough for him to survive without dialysis. He was four days old when he had his first peritoneal dialysis catheter placed through surgery. His first memory of being sick was when his mother bought a TV for his room.

“I was about three years old, and I remember thinking it was SO COOL to have a TV in my room. But it was there for a reason – I was on dialysis 12 hours a day,” recalled Joshua. “As I got older, those 12 hours of dialysis were like a prison sentence to me. Other kids were spending the night with their friends (my friends), going to water parks, and playing lots of sports. Dialysis was a part of my life and I needed it to live, but it was more like just surviving. How do you really live when you’re connected to a machine so many hours a day?”

As Joshua got older, his mother started talking about “the transplant.” “I don’t think I really understood what that meant,” he acknowledged. “I was only six years old when mom and my doctors started getting me ready. I remember mom being really scared. She didn’t think I knew that she was scared, but I know she was. She had never had any type of surgery before. I had so many surgeries I couldn’t count them all. This was just one more, right? WRONG! I didn’t know that this surgery would give me a life I never knew about!

“Mom was in a hospital next to mine because I was in one just for kids. I remember waking up after the surgery and asking to see her. Neither one of us felt very good, but we needed to see each other. I couldn’t believe it when they showed me where they put mom’s kidney and that is was working! It was the first time I remember NOT being on dialysis! I was seven and starting a new life.”

Joshua went on to say, “As I got better, I found a whole new world! I get to go to nighttime baseball games, swimming parties and to friends’ homes to spend the night. I play sports! I get to see sunsets in person instead of on TV or through my window. And I got to go to Disney World without any tubes or dialysis, and without being so tired and sick! We went to Disney World three months after my transplant to celebrate my life – my NEW life!!

Joshua is now a volunteer Passion Panel member of Mid-America Transplant Services, telling his story to groups of people, because he wants everyone to know what a difference transplants make to people and families. “I’m living proof – and I’m loving life! Thanks Mom!!!”