Malkia White, an AKF Ambassador and member of AKF's Rare Kidney Disease Action Network (RKDAN), joins this episode of The Kidney Collective™ to talk with our co-hosts Tamara Ruggiero and Mike Spigler about her journey living with IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Malkia shares how she was diagnosed with "Berger's disease" (what IgAN was previously called) as a child but did not understand her disease until adulthood. After learning she was in kidney failure, she did extensive research on the subject and became a vocal advocate for herself and others.

She explains how her strong will to live and to fight to survive helped her persevere through the challenges of dialysis and waiting for a kidney transplant. She also tells Tamara and Mike how she started her social media campaign #ThatGirlNeedsAKidney while leaning on her village through it all, including family, friends and members of the rare kidney disease community. She emphasizes that "this illness has no face or look to it," and someone may look like the "picture of health" when they are struggling.  

More Resources:

• 'A Step Ahead of IgA Nephropathy' 
• 'We go through a lot': Life with a rare kidney disease 
• Kidney donation and transplant 
• Life after transplant: Rejection prevention and healthy tips  
• Kidney health research and innovations 
• Mental health and kidney disease 
• Rare Kidney Disease Action Network 
• Unknown Causes of Kidney Disease Project 
• IgA Nephropathy Foundation