A young, Keene native mom is turning to the community as she looks for a live kidney donor.

Demitria Kirby, 33, now a resident of Middlebury, Vermont suffered a complication from childbirth this past July that left both of her kidneys damaged.

According to her National Kidney Registry webpage, Kirby began to hemorrhage and was taken in for emergency surgery to remove a piece of placenta that had not passed, and her blood pressure had spiked. She was later diagnosed with a syndrome known as HELLP, for Hemolysis, elevated Liver enzymes and low platelets. HELLP is a rare pregnancy complication that is life threatening.

Further testing also revealed that Kirby had a genetic disease known as Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (aHUS), which, according to the American Kidney Fund, causes small blood clots to form and blocks the blood flow to vital organs.

Since then, Kirby has been on dialysis and was accepted onto the transplant list last month, with a 5-7 year wait for a kidney. In the meantime, she’s turning to the community to find a match as soon as she can.

For more information on Kirby’s condition, and to be screened as a potential donor, visit Demitria Kirby Needs a Kidney | Can You Help? (nkr.org)