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'Kidney failure at 23 made me feel isolated'

Harriet Heywood
BBC News, Peterborough
Becca Moore Becca Moore and her male partner are stood together outside. She is stood with her back to him and he has his arms over her shoulders. They are both smiling at the camera. Her partner has a blue t-shirt and brown hair and facial hair. Becca has long brown hair with blonde highlights and wears earrings. Becca Moore
Like several of her relatives, Becca (pictured with her partner) had reflux nephropathy, but in 2018 it progressed to kidney failure

"To get the news you wouldn't make your 24th birthday... it spiralled my mental health... in some respect I became a recluse."

Becca Moore, from Peterbrough, was 23 when she suffered kidney failure.

She said the effects on her physical and mental health were "devastating" until a life-changing transplant from her cousin.

Five years later, and Ms Moore's donated kidney is deteriorating, but she is determined to raise awareness for Kidney Research UK by taking part in a five-mile walk though her home city.

'It's not a cure'

The 29-year-old, who now works as a special needs teaching assistant, suffered a severe urinary tract infection which caused her kidney function to plummet to just 12%.

She was told by doctors that if she continued not to drink enough water, she would not live to 24.

She was diagnosed with a genetic kidney disease called reflux nephropathy which later progressed to kidney failure.

"That was a massive wake up call," she said.

"I felt very isolated.

"At the age of 23 you don't hear of many people having kidney transplants unless you're in that sort of community.

"None of my friends understood it and were going out partying and there's me - not coming out [because] I'm too tired and I guess that comes down to invisible illness."

Becca Moore Ms Moore is lying in a hospital bed. Her brown hair has been tied back and she wears a blue and white spotted top. She has a breathing machine attached to her nose.Becca Moore
Ms Moore said she has since found a community of people who were going through similar experiences, which helped her talk openly about her condition

Ms Moore said she fell into a "deep depression" and because kidney disease and mental health struggles were not always visible, people did not always understand.

She feared getting poorly or an infection.

Following her first successful transplant she said: "I got my life back again and for that first year it was amazing.

"I felt like my old self and then the first set of rejection hit and since then it's just been a tiring time.

"You sort of see the patterns of what happened the first time around happening again so it's quite scary."

Ms Moore hoped knowing more about the procedures this time around and being able to openly talk about it would help her.

"They say a transplant isn't a cure, but actually when you're so poorly beforehand you think it's going to give me my life back.. .but it's not a cure. It is just a treatment for however long it lasts."

Ms Moore will walk at the Peterborough March March on 29 March to fundraise for Kidney Research UK.

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