Transplant Recipient Hopes to Inspire Others As Triathlete

Transplant Recipient Hopes to Inspire Others As Triathlete

posted 03/06/09 5:45 pm

NewsChannel 8 -

DISTRICT HEIGHTS, Md. - D.C. Councilman Marion Barry's recent re-admission to Howard University Hospital has focused attention on complications related to kidney transplants. But the road to recovery isn't always so bumpy.

One District Heights woman's transplant operation is allowing her to do something few of us are up to -- run a triathlon.

Betsy Calloway's 2007 Christmas gift saved her life. Her sister, Erin, gave her a kidney, ending a brutal six-year battle with kidney disease.

"Just the possibility of her not being with me -- for me, it was just unimaginable," Erin said at the time.

At the time, the fact Betsy was up making cookies with her family just days after surgery surprised even her doctors.

"I feel great," Betsy said in a 2007 video. "I feel like I have so much energy and a renewed sense of life."

But what she's doing now is better described as an inspiration. The 29-year-old is preparing for her first triathlon.

"I didn't think in a million years I'd be approached to do a triathlon, or be crazy enough to say, 'Yeah, I'll actually do it,'" Betsey said.

Using the same discipline and focus that pushed this District Heights resident to finish college while going through dialysis four hours a day, three times a week, she's making that idea seem a little less crazy.

"It's a different type of challenge," Betsy said. "Before I was fighting for my health, now it's about improving the quality of my health."

Every morning she hits the gym at around 6 for about 2 hours of biking, running, and weightlifting.

"It's not something you think about while you are on dialysis," she said

Instead, Betsy thinks about helping others battling kidney disease -- if nothing else, by example alone.

"You can get through it, you can do it in a positive way. There's always light at the end of the tunnel," she said.

Betsy is starting a non-profit group aimed at helping young people with kidney disease. She's using the triathlon to try to raise $5,000 for kidney disease awareness.

Betsy is blogging about the whole experience: http://blog.ironshad.com/category/betsy-calloway/

http://www.news8.net/news/stories/0309/601265.html