Nellie Zygiel, who needs a kidney transplant, holds her puppy, Hope, a gift from the Make a Wish Foundation. Photo from KidneyForNellie.org
By Beth David, Editor
A 20-year-old West Island woman is asking the public for help getting a kidney transplant. Nellie Zygiel has been sick with a variety of illnesses since she was a young child, including vasculitis at the age of 10. That left her kidneys permanently damaged. She was placed on the National Donor List this past January.
Unfortunately, the wait for a kidney is five to seven years.
Meanwhile, she will most likely have to go on dialysis, which is not a pleasant prospect.
None of this, however, has stopped Ms. Zygiel from pursuing her dreams.
The young UMassAmherst student is also a member of the Commonwealth Honors College, and is studying education and psychology. She is scheduled to graduate in 2026, and hopes to keep to that schedule.
But, she needs the public’s help to do it. If she can get a living donor, she can pursue her dreams.
“My doctors have talked about all the benefits of getting a kidney from a living donor,” writes Nellie on her website, KidneyForNellie.org. “It would hopefully help me avoid dialysis, be a better match, and kidneys from living donors normally last longer.”
Even so, she will likely need more than one transplant in her lifetime, because she is so young now.
Nellie had a lot of anxiety and fear when she was first told that she would need a transplant. She is trying to avoid dialysis because of the toll it takes on the body and the emotions.
“Dialysis takes a complete toll on someone’s life,” writes Nellie on her website. “It makes people weaker, tired, and depressed. As a 20-year-old college student, that’s something I am desperately trying to avoid.”
A 10-year-old Nellie Zygiel poses with her parents, Tom and Sheryl Zygiel, while in the hospital when she was diagnosed with vasculitis, the condition that damaged her kidneys, and now, at age 20, she needs a kidney transplant. Photo from KidneyForNellie.org
In a phone interview, Nellie said that she does not have a lot of symptoms, now, but she does get tired.
And that’s lucky, she said.
“Because when you get symptoms, you have to consider dialysis,” she said.
At this point, she is still able to do all the things she wants to do, and, being a West Island kid, that means outdoor summer stuff. She kayaks, rides her bike, walks her two dogs on the beach. This summer she wants to get into paddle boarding.
She also just hangs out with friends (she’s 20, right?) and goes to different workout classes at school.
This summer she will work her job again at Off The Hook at West Island Marina.
And during it all, a kidney transplant is hanging over her head.
“It’s tough,” she said. “Because I have to balance more than the average people that are my age.”
And that includes keeping up with the website, updating things, keeping track of a whole bunch of stuff, and advocating for herself.
You may see her walking on the beach with her dogs, Hope, a gift from the Make a Wish Foundation, and Maple, who’s a little bit older.
“I love to be outside,” said Nellie. “Summer is my favorite.”
Spoken like a true West Island kid.
Visit Nellie’s page at www.kidneyfornellie.org; learn more about living donors at http://www.bidmc.org/kidneydonor
The website has an inquiry form and links to helpful information. You may also email her at kidneyfornellie@gmail.com
People who are not a direct match can still help by entering into a kidney swap. Donors will be evaluated at Beth Israel Hospital and all medical costs will be covered by Nellie’s insurance.
Nellie’s parents, Tom and Sheryl Zygiel of Fairhaven, have also created a GoFundMe page at https://tinyurl.com/bdkd8j9r.
“I also hope this post inspires people to register to be an organ donor, so they can help the hundreds of thousands of people on lists, and hopefully make the waiting period shorter,” Nellie writes on her page.
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