KIDNEY
HEROES
Kidney Heroes are patients, patient advocates, caregivers, living donors, deceased donors, doctors, and those who champion the research, education, prevention, screening, and treatment of kidney disease.
Find Your Kidney Hero
If you’re living with kidney disease, you should identify someone who can be your Kidney Hero. A kidney hero is someone who will educate themselves on kidney disease and help the kidney patient understand their treatment options so that they do not feel like they are not going through this alone.
Kidney Heroes are often the kidney patients' biggest supporter and advocate. When kidneys are failing, many patients experience fatigue, confusion, weakness, and brain fog. As you can imagine, this makes it difficult for kidney patients to advocate for themselves. This is where a Kidney Hero can offer support by traveling with the kidney patient to doctor visits to ensure they are receiving equitable healthcare.
Arguably one of the biggest ways to offer support to a kidney patient is by soliciting kidney donors and fundraising on behalf of the patient to help increase their lifespan. The National Kidney Foundation calls this the Big Ask. This is crucial because it can be awkward and uncomfortable for many kidney patients to talk about their health and need for a donor. Many forgo life-saving treatments due to this discomfort. By having a Kidney Hero, the kidney patient can limit and sometimes eliminate awkward and uncomfortable conversations. Not only that, but when a Kidney Hero shares your message, kidney patients notice that their message is spread more widely, reaching more people, and yielding a greater impact.
If this sounds daunting, don’t worry, we have resources below to help you get started. We’ll give you a hint: social media combined with the attached living donor sample letter will become your best friend. :)