A woman in North Bay touched by kidney disease in more than one way is working hard to help patients and families.
Marie Carol Langevin is leading a battle to raise awareness about organ donation.
"My mom got admitted to the hospital with total kidney failure and unfortunately in her situation it was too late," she said.
Within the same month of her mother's death, her husband Guy was also diagnosed with kidney failure.
"It was really hard to see him go through that and knowing that I was doing everything I could and there was nothing more I could do on his end," said Langevin.
"I just had to be his biggest supporter."
Guy was one of the lucky ones. After three years of grueling dialysis he received a call; a donor had been found and he was about to receive the most precious gift of all; time.
"It's never going to return back to normal because one of these days I'm going to be back on dialysis," he said.
"This is not a cure. It's only to prolong your life."
Langevin has made fighting kidney disease her life mission.
Her goal is to raise awareness and funds in hopes that no one loses a loved one from the debilitating disease. One of the main fundraisers Langevin organizes is the Kidney Walk; which takes place annually in North Bay.
In attendance were several successful kidney transplant survivors, including Maria Caliciuri-Gray, who received a new kidney only six short months ago.
"I want to support the Kidney Foundation because if it wasn't for them I wouldn't have been able to get those treatments to make me feel real again," she said.
Langevin is hoping last minute donations will continue to come in, so that she can reach her goal of $10,000.
