Mother & daughter share a unique story about their kidney battle

SALISBURY, Md.- The 2024 Salisbury Kidney Walk is just four days away.

8-year-old Natalee and her mom Kateyln Russ share their story about living with kidney issues.

When Katelyn was pregnant and went in for an ultrasound to see what the baby’s gender would be she learned that her baby girl would be missing a kidney.

When Natalee was born doctors did a VCUG test finding that she was born with a kidney reflux.

In 2016  Natalee got a kidney infection which caused her to have sepsis with that she ended up having to have her ureter reconstructed.

Enduring this at a young age was a huge challenge, but Natalee never stopped fighting!

When WMDT asked Natalee how she feels about her kidney disorder, she said “I feel happy because it makes me strong.”

You would think that going through this at such a young age would affect her life negatively.

Katelyn says that they don’t let Natalee’s kidney challenges get in the way of her living a normal life.

“She has been able to do everything she’s been cheering for the last 3 to 4 years and we had to get medically cleared but we got cleared and everything she’s wanted to do she’s been able to do like a normal child,” says Katelyn.

WMDT is a proud sponsor of this year’s kidney walk.

The event is on Sunday, June 2nd at Winter Place Park- and it starts at 9 am.

Our very own Rob Petree will be emceeing the event