My name is Nawfal, but I go by Hassan. I was born in the U.S., but as a young child I lived mostly in Pakistan. We moved to America permanently in 2011.
When I was about 3 or 4 months old, I got very sick while we were still living in Pakistan. I became so ill that I almost died. The doctors performed surgery, and I was in the hospital for months. They saved me and my kidneys. My mom took me for blood work every month for the next two years, and then it was every six months until I turned 13. For the last year or so, I’ve been going every three months. As I grew, my kidneys didn’t and they started functioning less and less. I’m now at stage 4 of kidney failure.
In order to protect my kidneys, I can’t eat many of the things I like anymore. I used to love fries and potatoes, but I haven’t had them in 6 or 7 years, and I want to eat them again. I’ve been watching what I eat for so long that I can’t even remember the tastes of my favorite foods. I want to drink Sprite. I don’t even remember what it tastes like anymore!
I worked part-time at Dick's Sporting Goods for about 10 hours a month for a year to keep myself focused. Now I’m attending community college, but I have a learning disability and I need extra time to learn. I sometimes need someone to explain things to me more than three times. I take extra classes after school because I want to earn a degree. I want to grow older, work, and be my dad’s shoulder to lean on, and not a burden. I’d also like to travel to Mecca and Medina. I can’t do that if I am sick.
Do you want to help Hassan? Please share the link to Hassan’s story or reach out to Kidneys for Communities at info@kidneysforcommunities.org to learn more about how you can help. The Kidneys for Communities team is here to answer your questions
