Hayley Waters

My Red Socks Run for Kidney Health

This October, I’m going to Red Socks Run as life depends on it.

By running, walking, or riding 100km I want to raise awareness of the 60hrs that people affected by kidney disease need to spend on dialysis each month.

Please donate to my page to raise funds for research into life-saving treatments, and provide support to individuals and families affected by kidney failure. 

YOU can make a difference – Join me and help create a future where kidney health is a priority for all Australians.

When I was a young child, I was getting a lot of UTIs, and it turned out that I had Grade 1 vesicoureteral reflux (VUR). For a period of time (around 10 years), I stopped getting recurrent UTIs and the doctors believed that I had outgrown it. However, I started getting the recurrent UTIs again in my late teens/early 20s. But by the time I had realised it was possibly the VUR, my right kidney function had decreased to 10.5% and significantly shrunk and was damaged, I was diagnosed with reflux nephropathy.  I used to get a lot of pain in my right flank from urinary distension. I underwent further testing in 2023 to see what the remaining function was in the right kidney which was around 6%. Fast forward to August 2024, I had a laparoscopic radical nephrectomy with the amazing urology team at RNSH to remove the right kidney, and I feel good! The surgery was successful and the pain on the right flank has gone. Since the surgery, my left kidney has done an exceptional job and my eGFR is still in a healthy range!