“My story is no longer about loss. It’s about survival. About faith. About rebirth.”

In 2023, at an event organised by the Romanian Transplant Association (ATR), a young woman appeared who seemed barely out of her teens, with a radiant face, a warm smile for everyone, but above all a gentle discretion that made you notice her without her seeking anyone’s attention. She gradually integrated into the community, always looking for ways to be of help. Recently, she chose to donate her birthday to support the association’s activities.

Her name is Georgiana, and the story behind her smile... is not an easy one to bear: the joy of motherhood was shattered by the unexpected loss of her pregnancy. “At 31, my life was torn in two. In May, I lost the baby – a much-wanted pregnancy that stopped developing at 28 weeks. It was a pain hard to put into words, a void that cannot be filled, only carried forward,” says Georgiana.

The miscarriage was immediately followed by the news that she was in imminent danger: her kidneys were failing and deteriorating a little more each day. She was admitted to a hospital in Bucharest, underwent treatment, suffered side effects… and there was no sign of the expected improvement. On the contrary, the renal failure progressed rapidly, and the situation was complicated by necrosis of the hip, which required a prosthesis... And all this whilst, emotionally, the self-reproach that the loss of her unborn child was her fault, that she had made a mistake somewhere, was there, and along with other thoughts, it was gnawing at her soul. Her kidneys were deteriorating with each passing day and she was placed on the waiting list for a transplant.

“I knew time was running out. And yet, just two weeks after the doctors decided to prepare me for dialysis, the phone rang, and so, on 8 December 2019, my life changed again. I was given the chance of a new life — without a single day of dialysis. I remember perfectly the moment I hung up the phone after speaking to the doctor. I felt, with every fibre of my being, that that kidney was meant for me. That it had been entrusted to me, that from now on it belonged to me, and that it was my duty to carry it forward.”

And so it was: that kidney was a perfect match for her! She welcomed it with love and began to protect it with her whole being and all her strength. But life had another painful surprise in store:“In 2023, I reached another difficult point: divorce. I had left an abusive relationship, both physically and verbally. I fell into a deep depression, one that took me to dark places in my mind. There were moments when my thoughts became dangerous.”

But she had a duty to the person who had given her the gift of life, that functioning kidney, and she could not give up the fight. She underwent psychotherapy, during which time“I learnt, step by step, to rebuild myself. To find myself again. To choose myself.”

And because, as a rule, a brain-dead donor provides two kidneys, along with the functioning kidney, Georgiana also received a ‘kidney twin’, and they decided not to separate the kidneys, but whenever possible, to bring them close to one another, and thus an extraordinary camaraderie grew. And as her “kidney twin” had discovered ATR some time ago and felt part of the community straight away, in 2023 he convinced Georgiana to take part in an activity, after which she too returned.“At ATR I met some extraordinary people. People with stories perhaps even harder than mine, but who radiate light and have incredible strength in their eyes. People who, despite all their problems, choose to be optimistic. Who believe, just like me, that life can smile again. My faith in God has kept me going and given me the strength to move forward, and the people I’ve met confirm that I’m not alone, but part of a community where people support one another.”

ATR is about mutual support, about listening to one another, encouraging one another, rejoicing and grieving for one another, and Georgiana puts this into words when she says:“I now lead a beautiful life. I have old friends and new friends by my side, people who support me, understand me and cherish me. I have learnt that pain does not disappear, but it transforms. It becomes strength. It becomes a lesson. It becomes a story. And my story is no longer about loss. It is about survival. About faith. About rebirth.”

Thank you, Georgiana, for sharing your thoughts and feelings, and for choosing to be part of the ATR community!