Why I Walk

In honor of our daughter Halston, who was diagnosed with Bilateral Renal Agenesis at 20 weeks gestation. During our 20-week anatomy scan, the doctor informed us that Halston had not developed kidneys. We were told that this diagnosis was not compatible with life and that she would not make it to birth. I began to research more and came across many other families with the same diagnosis. We also learned of treatments that saved the lives of many babies like our daughter. Danny and I temporarily moved across the country to undergo these amnioinfusion treatments to give our daughter a chance at life. We learned that through these treatments, babies like Halston can make it to birth, undergo dialysis, and eventually receive kidney transplants and go on to live beautiful lives!  On June 7th, 2023, Halston, against all odds, was born. 2 weeks later, she started peritoneal dialysis and lived for 33 miraculous days. Halston went to Heaven on July 10th, 2023. We will forever be grateful for the opportunity to fight for our daughter and spend the short time we did with her. Her resilience and the strength of other children like her inspire us every day.

We walk not only to honor Halston but also other families like ours with similar diagnoses, those who are coping with kidney-related illness, and thousands more who will face an unexpected kidney disease diagnosis in the year to come.
I walk to support the life-changing work of the National Kidney Foundation:
 - To ensure families have a place to turn when they need answers.
 - To fight for policy changes to protect kidney patients and living donors.
 - To drive innovation in transplantation and get more loved ones off the kidney transplant waitlist.

Our family would love your support by joining our team and walking with us on Saturday, November 16th in Fort Lauderdale and/or donating to the cause. 
Forever Team Halston! 

Thank you,
 Amanda & Danny Schroder