Dallas Woman in Need of Lifesaving Kidney Transplant

Nono Osuji was going after her dreams in New York City. She’d enrolled in graduate school, made friends, and had big plans for the entertainment industry.

Then, life changed and hasn’t been the same since. The life she’d become familiar with came to halt after her lupus diagnosis.

“My second semester I got a rash on my eyes, and I thought it was an allergic reaction,” she said. “And it was a 4-month process before I was finally diagnosed with lupus.”

The lupus diagnosed has since progressed to stage five lupus nephritis, and her kidneys are failing. She needs a living donor, and she needs one fast.

“I just feel like I want a chance to live and being chronically ill for twelve years hasn’t given me that opportunity,” said Osuji. “Like every year it’s kind of declining.”

According to the Southwest Transplant Alliance, 67% of people waiting on lifesaving organ transplants in Texas are African American or Latino. Kidney failure is five times more common for African Americans than their white counterparts.

Osuji’s life now revolves around dialysis and ever-depleting energy levels. She makes plans around the illness.

“I need to be connected to doctors. I have a team of doctors I need to see them. I need to be within at least a few miles of a hospital. I need electricity,” she said.

She’s racing against time to find a kidney and continue pursuing the life she once knew. During the wait, though, there’s excitement at the prospect of getting back to creative producing, and hope for the future she always envisioned.

“When you have something that you know you really want to do, it’s like ‘ok I’m still here for a reason,’” said Osuji,

Osuji is now on the transplant registry to become a kidney recipient. To become a living donor, visit http://www.livingdonordallas.org. For Osuji specifically, type “Cynthia Osuji.”

You can also visit https://www.kidney.org/transplantation/livingdonors and https://www.organ.org/ for additional information.