MORRIS COUNTY, New Jersey — For 39 years, Karen Zabriskie has lived with a disease that most people have never heard of — and every single day has been a quiet battle against time.
At just 17 years old, Karen was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease, a hereditary condition that causes cysts to slowly grow on the kidneys, progressively destroying their function and ultimately leading to kidney failure. Now 56, she has spent nearly four decades managing her condition with strength and determination. But today, that fight has reached a critical turning point.
Karen is now in urgent need of a living kidney donor.
She is currently listed for a kidney transplant at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey. The challenge, however, is significant. Thousands of patients across the country are waiting for a kidney at any given time, and the wait for a deceased donor organ can stretch into years — time that many patients simply do not have.
A living donor could change everything for Karen.
Kidney advocate Donna Tissot, who has devoted considerable time to raising awareness for transplant patients in need, is helping amplify Karen’s story. “She is not asking for sympathy — she is asking for a chance to live,” Tissot said. “Somewhere out there is a person who could save her life.”
What many people do not realize is that a living donor does not need to be a direct blood-type match. Through paired exchange programs, a willing donor can still help Karen receive a compatible kidney while also helping another patient in need. Donors pay nothing for evaluation or surgery, and support programs are available throughout the entire process.
For Karen, a transplant means more than better health. It means more time with family, more ordinary moments, and a future she has spent 39 years fighting to reach.
Even sharing her story could be the step that brings her lifesaving donor forward.
