Lytle, Texas is a small town located outside of San Antonio. Recently, the entire community came together to support a young boy living with autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD). Josiah, a four-year-old from Lytle, felt love from his entire community last Saturday when they came together to raise money for his treatment. You can watch a video on the story here.
Support for Josiah
Josiah is in need of a liver and kidney transplant to treat his ARPKD. Both organs are enlarged, and his kidney is covered in cysts, making it 50% larger than the average adult kidney. This impacts his daily life, even stopping him from running and playing with the other kids.
The family has to travel to Houston in order to figure out the details of Josiah’s transplant, meaning that his father would be out of work. In order to make up for this loss of money, their community came together to support them. Bikers, burgers, and pastries were sold to members from all over the community. People paid $8 for the food but also showed up just to support Josiah. You can donate to the family through their GoFundMe here if you’d like to contribute!
You can also follow the family’s journey here.
About ARPKD
ARPKD is one form of polycystic kidney disease, and it is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern as the name suggests. The PKHD1 is mutated in individuals with this condition, causing cysts to form on the kidneys. Other symptoms include kidney failure, weakness, fatigue, swelling, frequent urination, high blood pressure, excessive thirst, enlarged kidneys, poor digestion, pain in the sides and back, decreased urine production, and issues with other organs like the liver and blood vessels of the brain and heart. There is no cure for this condition; treatment is symptomatic. In many cases, procedures such as kidney and liver transplants.
Find the source article here.