Held by Grace, Fighting for My Future

My name is Llana Wright, and I’m 20 years old. In June 2026, my life changed in a way I never could have imagined. Before becoming sick, I was serving in the Army Reserves and working as a 911 dispatcher, helping others during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. I was building my future, serving my community, and beginning my adult life. I never imagined that, so suddenly, I would become the person fighting for my own life.

What started as a cough quickly turned into a life-threatening emergency. I began coughing up large amounts of blood, and my hemoglobin dropped to around 5. I was airlifted to MUSC in Charleston, South Carolina, where I was admitted to the ICU with severe lung bleeding caused by a rare autoimmune disease called microscopic polyangiitis, a type of ANCA-associated vasculitis. I was placed on a ventilator and spent 2 months fighting for my life.

During that hospitalization, I also learned that the disease had severely and permanently damaged my kidneys. A kidney biopsy showed that 23 of my 26 glomeruli were globally scarred, leaving me with end-stage renal disease. At just 19 years old, I went from living my everyday life to depending on dialysis to survive.

Since that hospitalization, my life has revolved around dialysis treatments, medications, medical appointments, and learning how to navigate a future I never expected. I am now unable to work because of my medical condition, and I have had to step away from the career and military service I once knew. Losing that independence at such a young age has been incredibly difficult, especially when I had so many plans for my future.

But even through everything I have endured, this experience has also given me a new perspective on life. During my hospitalization, I developed a strong desire to become a respiratory therapist. After experiencing firsthand what it is like to struggle to breathe, be placed on a ventilator, and depend on a medical team to help save my life, I found myself wanting to one day help other people through those same frightening moments. I hope to return to college when my health improves and pursue that dream. I want to turn one of the hardest experiences of my life into something that allows me to make a difference in someone else’s.

I have also transitioned to home hemodialysis with the help of my mom, who has been an incredible support throughout this journey. I am pursuing a kidney transplant and holding onto hope that I can receive a second chance at a more normal life.

I am still so young, and there is so much I want to experience. I want more years with my husband, more memories with my family, the opportunity to build our future together, and the chance to return to school and eventually work in a career that I love. I want to travel, pursue my goals, serve others again, and enjoy the little things that many people never have to think twice about. Most of all, I want the freedom to live without my entire life revolving around dialysis.

I recently learned about living kidney donation and the kidney paired exchange program. Even if someone isn’t a direct match for me, they may still be able to donate on my behalf through a paired exchange, allowing me to receive a compatible kidney from another donor. Learning about this possibility has given me another reason to hope.

To me, a kidney transplant would mean so much more than freedom from dialysis. It would mean a second chance at life after coming so close to losing it. It would mean the opportunity to return to college, work toward becoming a respiratory therapist, regain my independence, and build the future I had envisioned before my illness. It would mean more time with the people I love and the chance to make plans without knowing that everything depends on my next dialysis treatment.

I know that living kidney donation is an extraordinary and deeply personal decision, and I would never take that gift for granted. Someone willing to consider getting tested, even if they don’t know whether they are a match, could open a door that might otherwise remain closed. Through living donation or paired exchange, one person’s decision could change the course of my life forever.

My faith has carried me through some of the darkest moments of my life. I believe God has brought me through this journey for a reason, and I am choosing to believe there is still so much life ahead of me. I have already fought through a life-threatening hospitalization, and I am continuing to fight every day. I am sharing my story because I know there may be someone out there who could help give me the opportunity to live the life I am working so hard to get back to.

I am not giving up on my future. I am still here, still fighting, and still dreaming of the day I can return to college, become a respiratory therapist, and help others the way so many people helped me. A kidney donor could give me the chance to do more than survive. They could help me start living again.