Weipa kidney transplant recipient Becky Nai with Weipa renal clinical nurse Roda Allen. Photo: Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service.
A Weipa woman who received a life-saving kidney transplant is keen to help others living with diabetes and has applied to become an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health worker.
Becky Nai, originally from Masig (Yorke) Island in the Torres Strait was diagnosed with diabetes when she was 18.
In February, Ms Nai underwent the operation through the North Queensland Kidney Transplant Service at Townsville, three years after she started dialysis and was placed on the transplant waiting list.
The 40-year-old shared her story ahead of Donate Life Week from 26 July to 2 August, which encourages Australians to register as organ and tissue donors.
While Ms Nai was working as a teacher aide and studying teaching, she began caring for her unwell parents and then found out her kidney was failing.
The diagnosis in her early 30s was devastating for Ms Nai and her family, including her four older brothers.
“I hadn’t been managing my diabetes properly because I was looking after mum and dad,” she said.
“I was on dialysis for three years. The hospital staff talked to me about a transplant at the beginning and I was a bit sceptical, but they said ‘think about the outcome’. They said it could take five years before I could get a transplant, but I got it in three years.
“The day I found out came with mixed emotions. I was screaming and crying and I remember the moment getting on the plane and going down to Townsville it really hit me.”
Ms Nai will not find out who donated her kidney due to patient confidentiality.
Transplant operations are now being performed at at Townsville through the North Queensland Kidney Transplant Service, meaning Cape and Torres Strait patients avoid travelling further south to Brisbane. Photo: Townsville Hospital and Health Service.
“I’m so thankful for whoever it was for this. If it wasn’t for that person, I would still be sitting on a dialysis machine,” she said.
“It feels like it must have been a younger person because I feel energetic. I feel like a little kid having to learn a few things again. It’s like my life is starting again.
“You’re able to do things you couldn’t do anymore. Now I can go back to work too.”
Ms Nai travelled about 1100 km to Townsville for the operation through the North Queensland Kidney Transplant Service.
Torres and Cape patients previously had to travel to Brisbane, often for extended periods, placing significant strain on families, cultural obligations and community connections.
The service is a collaboration between Queensland Health’s Cape, Townsville and Cairns hospital and health services and was designed to ensure patients receive transplant care closer to home.
Ms Nai said: “I was happy because Brisbane is a bit too far away from home. Townsville is a bit closer and I have a lot of family there, so everyone came to see me when I was in hospital.”
Next, Ms Nai hopes to work with Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service (TCHHS).
“Taking my experience and seeing what is going on in my community I want to go back and help educate people,” she said.
“I would like to help prevent young people from ending up on dialysis like I did.”
Alongside the service at Townsville, TCHHS has launched its own dedicated support service for pre and post-surgery care, which includes a consultant nephrologist and two kidney transplant nurses working at Cooktown and Thursday Island.
TCHHS medical services executive director Marlow Coates. Photo: Supplied.
TCHHS medical services executive director Marlow Coates said the service at Townsville had so far helped half-a-dozen patients from the Torres Strait and Cape to receive kidney transplants since launching about a year ago.
Almost 30 patients have received a kidney transplant and post-transplant care through TCHHS since 2018.
“We know there is unfortunately a high burden of kidney disease in our region so this service, alongside our multi-disciplinary primary care teams, are vital in proactively identifying, educating and supporting patients who are at higher risk,” Dr Coates said.
“It is fantastic our patients can receive these services closer to home and it is cases like Becky’s which highlight the benefits.
“The Torres and Cape HHS is committed to building services focused on both clinical and cultural safety to ensure these patients receive the best care possible.”
