Ashleigh Brown

My Red Socks Run for Kidney Health

This year I have decided to participate in the red sock run to raise awareness to kidney disease that affects up to 2 million Australia, 1.5 million people being unaware that they have the condition according to Kidney Health Australia. Hence why it is called the silent killer, as sometimes you don’t know you have kidney disease until it is too late with no symptoms.

The reason I have personally decided to be apart of this run/walk is because I am one of those statistics at the age of 30 what we thought was a simple stomach flu turned into being told that my kidneys where essentially shutting down and now at 31 preparing myself and my family for the road ahead where I will be starting a new journey of doing dialysis while also trying to live a “normal” life.

This makes me reflect back to when my nan was alive always use to say protect your kidneys like your life depended on it, and now I fully understand why looking back at those memories, it was like almost a warning for my future self that I never took seriously. So this is my message to everyone get regular check ups with your doctor and get regular blood work done to check everything is functioning, don’t forget to look after yourself and your health as one day everything could change.