BERKSHIRE COUNTY, Mass. (NEWS10) -- More than 100,000 people are on the kidney transplant list in the United States, and 12 people on that list die every day because they couldn't wait. A Berkshire County woman can't risk waiting, so she's taking matters into her own hands.
Shawna Martel enjoys the simplicity of the country.
"I like it," she said. "It's quiet, no one bothers us, you hear a lot of mooing."
Perhaps, because, her health has been complicated since she was five.
"This is my insulin pump, this is my Dexcom, and then my catheter to my dialysis in my stomach," she explained.
Diabetes, a lung collapse, two years of blindness requiring 14 surgeries to fix, and then there's the worst of it.
"My kidneys, they still work, but not good enough."
So, for six hours every other night, a machine keeps her alive -- until her kidneys quit or she finds a donor. Shawna says the wait could be six to seven years.
She knows she might not have that long.
"I worry about it all the time," she said.
So it's a race against the clock to stay with the ones she loves.
"I just try to live my life to the fullest."
Her heart is truly on her sleeve.
"This is my son, his name is Gerard," she said as she shows her tattoos. "And this Japanese writing is 'warrior.'"
Since warriors fight, Shawna is taking matters into her own hands.
"Well, I've seen a lot of decals on cars, and thought, 'Oh, good advertisement to put it on the back window of my car,'" she said.
It's a public plea to ask a stranger to save her -- and perhaps, another.
"Even if your kidney and blood type don't match me, but it matches someone else that's on the list, so they'll get the kidney and I'll go to the top of the list," she said.
Right now, she's far from the top, so she drives and hopes.
"My biggest goal was to stay alive to see my son graduate, so I kept thinking about it, thinking about it, and I said that's what I'm gonna do."
They say you can't find a needle in a haystack, but Shawna is hoping for a cure among the corn fields.
"I think, at this point, you just have to stay hopeful that someone will come forward and want to help you."
Shawna is looking for a donor with O+ blood type. She can be reached at (413) 717-5038.
