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A kidney for Christmas: North Carolina girl's wish

Kenely found out she was at Stage 4 kidney failure in May 2017 and it's only gotten worse.

DANBURY, NC - Kenely Bullins doesn't have a Christmas wish like most other kids her age. The 10-year-old Stokes County girl wants a new kidney, and she needs one badly.

"She went from being a playful child to learning her kidneys are shutting down," says Candi Jones, Kenely's mother. "It was pretty heartbreaking."

Kenely found out she was at Stage 4 kidney failure in May 2017 and it's only gotten worse. She's now at Stage 5, which means her kidneys have lost all their ability to work with her body. Her mother says she has to do dialysis for nine hours a day, every day. It's something they've been trained to do at home.

"I think about all the people that are praying for me," Kenely says.

Kenely was added to the donor transplant list this month, but that process could take a long time. What her family is hoping for is a living donor, someone who would be willing to give up a kidney to save Kenely.

The Pine Hall Elementary 5th is trying not to focus on what could go wrong. She just wants to make sure everything goes right.

"So I can graduate and I don't have to be in the hospital the day I graduate," she says.

Kenely's mother and step-mother have been working together to mail out information packets to potential donors. They've had some people respond, but so far, no matches.

Many hospitals have a list of requirements for living donors. Typically a living donor must be:

  • In good physical and mental health
  • At least 18 years old
  • A BMI of less than 35
  • Free of cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, high blood pressure, hepatitis, organ diseases and infectious diseases
  • Not using any illicit drugs

If you are interested in helping Kenely, you can call her mom Candi Jones at 336-453-1499.

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