Marie-Eve Chainey lives hooked up to a dialysis machine every night. Attached to the machine, she can't leave her home for almost 12 hours.
The treatments started nine years ago after a near-fatal experience. One minute she was swimming in the ocean, the next she was fighting for her life in a Spanish hospital.
"Something triggered my blood to start sticking," said Chainey, "and clotted up both of my kidneys."
The cause of her condition is still unknown. For two years she could barely brush her teeth, yet the athlete had a dream she was determined to live out.
"From the day I was stuck in the bed, I wanted to be back in the gym, I wanted to feel comfortable because that is my place, so even though I could only do 20 seconds on the bike, it was the best 20 seconds of my day."
Chainey realized she could use her own story to help others. She organized a track meet to encourage other dialysis patients to get active and launched a charity to promote it.
The more Chainey exercised, the healthier she became and was able to participate in a national high jump competition.
The at-home dialysis machine works while she sleeps enabling her to live life to the fullest while awake.
While thousands of Canadians are waiting for an organ donation, Chainey is told new kidneys are not an option for her. Doctors say her situation is so fragile the surgery to perform a transplant would be too risky.
"At the moment I can't have a transplant, but who knows, one year, two years, 10 years I might be able to get one but in the meantime I can't just pause my life..."
