Toddler Gets Gift of a Lifetime From Grandma

The 2-year-old is dialysis-free for the first time since she was 2 months old
By Elizabeth Armstrong Moore,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 27, 2017 9:41 AM CDT
Grandma Gives Granddaughter a Kidney
Wryn Graydon has been discharged from the hospital after a successful kidney transplant from her grandmother.   (Facebook)

It's not every day that a grandmother is called on to save her grandchild's life, but when the day came for Carol Graydon, who is 62, to do just that, she didn't hesitate. Her granddaughter, Wryn Graydon, was diagnosed at two months of age with congenital nephrotic syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that would lead to kidney failure, reports ABC 3340. Doctors removed both of her kidneys and put her on dialysis at home, waiting for the infant to get big and strong enough for a transplant, reports ABC News. As they waited, "Everybody wanted to be a match so bad," the girl's father, Michael Graydon, says. Turns out, Michael's mother was.

"Having a living and a related donor allowed us to schedule the transplant as quickly as possible," says the doctor who treated Wryn in Birmingham, Ala. The doctors say a "very, very healthy" Carol Graydon has the kidneys of a 20-year-old, though Wryn—who is now 2 and just successfully underwent surgery, as the family reports on Facebook—will likely need another transplant in 15 years. For now, Carol Graydon is recovering at home and exhausted, which is common for kidney donors, while Wryn is expected to have a new bounce in her step—not to mention be able to live life off a dialysis machine. "We're excited about it but also scared," says Michael Graydon; he and wife Haley also have a 5-year-old. "She was already our wild child." (This woman donated her kidney to a boy she'd only just met.)

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