COTA for Ashley Q

Our Story

Ashley is a 39-year-old woman living with cystic fibrosis who is in end-stage renal failure. We are fundraising for COTA in her honor. Ashley needs a kidney transplant and a living kidney donor. 

ASHLEY’S TRANSPLANT HISTORY

Ashley was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was 2 years old. Her mother kept her active to strengthen her body, including gymnastics. Unfortunately, Ashley’s health declined during her teenage years. At age 20, Ashley received a life-saving double lung transplant.

After her first transplant, Ashley finished college and traveled the world. She returned to the United States in 2006. Though she was in lung rejection, her medical team was able to manage her health and she lived very happily until 2009 when her kidneys began to fail.

In 2012, Ashley received a kidney transplant from her friend Jeremy. The surgery was very successful and Ashley’s health immediately improved. She moved to Florida to pursue another Master’s degree and to be closer to Jeremy and his wife Kate, who is Ashley’s long-time friend from college.

Sadly, Ashley developed an allergy to her medication in 2015 that caused her body to attack her new kidney. The damage was so significant, it put her in renal failure which requires nearly daily dialysis. 

NEXT STEPS FOR ASHLEY

In 2016, Ashley was slated for a kidney transplant but the surgical team canceled it at the last minute. Unfortunately, that experience was expensive. Luckily, COTA’s partnership with Ashley is for her lifetime, so fundraising for transplant-related expenses is starting all over again.

Ashley has worked hard to increase her weight, strength, and endurance so that she can successfully receive another kidney transplant. She is listed at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill.

We hope that everyone will join us in fundraising for COTA in honor of Ashley and helping to find a living donor.