A life-changing connection

By Melissa Piche Times Contributor

Two family friends who met at a local rink will undergo a life-changing live kidney doner transplant operation on Feb. 7.

Kael Cummings, 13 and Carmen Briggs will soon become closer than most people could imagine as Briggs will be donating her kidney to Kael, which will help him to live his best life possible. 

It’s not every day that you wake up and think how you can become a living donor, but for Briggs it was a “no brainer.” 

Briggs’ daughter plays on a Strathmore ringette team. One of the players on the squad is Katie Cummings, whose brother Kael is in need of a kidney transplant. That is when Briggs sprang into action.

“I didn’t know the steps to becoming a living donor,” she said. “I knew I could do it, but I didn’t know how.” 

All it took was a quick Google search and Briggs was on her way; Kael’s life was about to change for the better. 

Kael was born prematurely at 31 weeks, weighing in at a little over four pounds. At birth, Cummings was in Stage 3 kidney failure, and his family knew that to live a long life one day he would need a kidney transplant. When his kidneys shut down a week before his 12th birthday it upped the urgency and he needed a new kidney now. Cummings is hooked up to a dialysis machine 21 hours a day and has a basement full of medical supplies to help keep him alive. 

“We met through ringette … my youngest (Ellie) had joined U10 and their oldest Katie had joined,” said Briggs. “They were always on the same team.”  

This was the beginning of the two families’ connection. 

Having had an early delivery herself with her youngest daughter who was considered a micro preemie, Briggs knows the feeling of helplessness that goes along with having a sick child.  

“When your child is facing a health crisis and there is nothing you as a parent can do,” said Briggs. “You put all your faith in doctors to fix them.” 

The process for the transplant began in April 2022. She put in her application and a couple of weeks later she got the call to come in for the initial conversation. This first visit to the Foothills Hospital was just to talk and to get an explanation of the process. A month later the tests began to ensure she was a suitable healthy donor. In July or early August more tests were conducted such as MRI’s and CT scans along with more blood work. 

“They seem to like to take a lot of blood,” Briggs laughs as she tells how she will go through blood testing up until and even after the operation. 

Briggs recalls the biggest test was the cross-match. This test indicates whether the recipient’s body will reject the donor organ immediately. 

“Once we got that test result we knew we were 80 per cent of the way there,” she said. 

By the end of September, the phone call they had been anticipating came in; they were a 100 per cent match. From here, the waiting game for a surgery date began.

One of the biggest challenges with a living donor operation is scheduling the operating rooms.

“They need two OR’s side by side for a certain amount of time during the day,” said Briggs.  

The initial hope was a Christmas surgery, but with Covid looming yet again and RSV hitting the Alberta Children’s Hospital, the surgery was delayed until February 2023. 

Briggs and Cummings both have such a positive attitude about the procedure; this positivity can be felt through Briggs’ words. 

“When they bring you in and tell you all the good and the bad about what can happen, I tend to not listen to the bad,” said Briggs. “I’m very calm and relaxed about this whole thing. I don’t want any negative energy here.”

Cummings has the same positive energy about him, Briggs said.

“Yes, I know there are risks on both ends, yes he’ll have a long recovery ahead of him but he has such a positive attitude,” she continues. “He is all smiles and giggles because this is a whole new adventure for him.”

Through the tight-knit ringette community, Katie Cummings’ team manager, Charlotte Hermann Trozzo, started a sticker donation campaign. It began as a way for the ringette players to show their support by putting the stickers on their helmets. From there, with community support and media coverage, the donations started pouring in. 

For $5 people can purchase a sticker or they can just donate. All donations are being accounted for through the Make-a-Wish Foundation. The sticker campaign has sparked much needed conversation about the living donor program with ways more people can help. 

With word spreading over social media platforms, Briggs is finding friends from long ago reaching out to donate, including her local run club pals and work acquaintances, who have all been eager to donate. 

All proceeds will be going to the Cummings family to aid in the long recovery ahead. 

Briggs is excited to see all the things Kael will be able to do. 

“As a mom we want good things for our kids, we want them to be successful and now he has the chance to do all that,” said Briggs.

If you would like to donate you can send etransfers to shell_read@outlook.com or you can contact Charlotte Hermann Trozzo to order stickers (charlotte_mk@shaw.ca).