Life on Dialysis: girl tells her story on TV

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Life on Dialysis: girl tells her story on TV
2:59pm Friday 15th May 2009

 By Camilla Sutcliffe »

A BRAVE student’s film about a day in her life as a kidney patient will be screened on Channel 4 today.

Sarah Coupe, 19, of Spring Meadows, Clayton-le-Moors, won through to the final three in a competition with the channel.

Her film, Life on Dialysis, will be shown alongside those made by the other two winners in Life with Tourettes and Other Stories, from 9.55am today.

Sarah was born with only one kidney and a hole in her heart, and for the past six years has been kept alive by a gruelling regime of dialysis, operations and medicines.

She attends the Royal Preston Hospital three times a week for dialysis, and must also stick to a 500ml fluid limit every day, eat a low-potassium diet which rules out treats like chocolate and crisps, and has daily blood pressure checks.

But the competition, which included a film-making masterclass at Channel 4, has encouraged Sarah to enrol in a media course at Accrington and Rossendale College, and she is more determined than ever to enjoy her life.

She said: “I’m 19 and something as simple as going to the pub is pretty much ruled out for me as two small drinks would be my entire daily allowance.

“Because I have two tubes coming out of my neck, I can’t go swimming or do anything that might damage the tube like skating, or horse riding, in case I fall off.

“At the moment, because of problems with my dialysis line, I can’t even go on holiday abroad which I love to do.

“I was absolutely thrilled to be one of the ten that got through to the finals.

“Then finding out that I was one of the top three to get my film on TV is just brilliant.

“It just shows what can be achieved if you just make a bit of an effort.

“This was a great opportunity for me to show that, although my life is greatly affected by needing dialysis three times a week, I can still have a bit of fun.

“If I make an effort, I can do most things, and on the days I don’t have to go to dialysis, I try to do normal things that other people do.

“It’s all about being positive.”

And she added: “I still have hopes and dreams for the future like anyone else does, but I look around and see lots of people who just don’t realise how lucky they are.

“Maybe this film will make them think twice about their own lives, stop them worrying about trivial things and make the best of what they’ve got.”

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/health/4372523.Brave_Clayton_le_Moors_girl_tells_her_story_on_TV/