New mom desperate for new kidney so she can live to watch daughter grow up

CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. - Veronika Montgomery never even heard of dialysis before the summer of 2022.

She gave birth to her daughter Evianna in July of that year. Everything went according to plan.

"My pregnancy did not have any issues. The c-section also was fine," Montgomery said.

Evianna was healthy. But Montgomery developed complications soon after delivery.

"It was bleeding, bleeding, bleeding," Montgomery said.

She lost almost all the blood in her body.

"I lost four liters of blood," Montgomery said. According to the NIH, the average human circulates about five liters of blood. That massive loss damaged some of her vital organs beyond repair.

"It damage completely my kidneys. They’re completely destroyed. It also damaged my heart," she said.

Montgomery, only 40-years-old, is now on a kidney-donation list at Piedmont Hospital. She undergoes dialysis at home every 12 hours, seven days a week, while raising her 19-month-old daughter.

"It is very difficult," she said.

Michael Lollo, chief strategy officer of The National Kidney Registry, said a kidney from a living donor is the best option.

"If you’re able to get a living-donor kidney, it lasts double the amount of time a deceased donor organ lasts," Lollo said. "Thirteen people die a day waiting for a kidney in the United States. Dialysis is basically a band-aid until you’re able to get a transplant."

Montgomery told FOX 5 reporter Christopher King that she hopes someone steps forward soon, so she can see her daughter grow up.

"I live only by the thought I will get a kidney eventually. I would like to find a person who can help me," she said.

The National Kidney Registry said the life expectancy of someone without a kidney is five to 10 years. Montgomery’s wait time for a transplant could very well last that long.

For more information and to find out how to donate, visit Montgomery's page on the National Kidney Registry online.