Every parent’s dream is a healthy, happy child. For Karen Rodas and Paul Bybkin, that dream turned into heartbreak when their newborn son, Nathaniel, passed away at just 36 hours old due to Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD).
In 2013, the couple welcomed their daughter, Maddy, only to discover she too had PKD. The disease caused her belly to swell to the size of a 9-month pregnancy, and her life became a cycle of hospital visits and exhaustion—sleeping up to 18 hours a day.
Doctors warned that Maddy’s survival depended on finding a kidney donor. Miraculously, her dad, Paul, was a perfect match.
“With Paul and Maddy both undergoing surgery, I was a wreck,” Karen shared with The Mirror. But the operation was a success, and both father and daughter made full recoveries.