A kidney transplant is only a phone call away for one Winnipeg family.

David and Sarah Konitz are waiting to hear from a San Francisco hospital for a kidney transplant for their two and half year old daughter, Faith.

In 2010, the Konitz’s discovered they were pregnant with a girl, Faith, but during the pregnancy doctors told them their baby daughter had developed end-stage renal disease in utero, where her kidneys were not growing or developing and would not function on a level needed for day-to-day life. Doctors also said if Faith lived to term she would not survive long as her underdeveloped kidneys would affect her heart and lungs.

Astounding the doctors and nurses, on July 27th, 2011; Faith Konitz was born. She stayed in hospital for seven weeks.

Faith went home in the fall of 2011 with a dialysis machine and a regimen of medications, doctors’ visits, and tests. Eventually this home dialysis was no longer feasible and Faith had to be in the hospital 6 days a week for dialysis. During one of these treatments she was found to have a lung virus which kept her in intensive care throughout the winter of 2012 and into 2013.

In the early spring of 2013 Doctors told the Konitz’s that as a result of Faith’s medications, Faith’s hearing was significantly compromised and she was now deaf.

Faith needed a kidney transplant; Faith’s parents were tested but were ineligible due to the size of their kidneys.

Despite searchin in Canada for a hospital to perform this procedure with its myriad complications, David and Sarah were told no hospital in Winnipeg was sufficiently experienced to attempt the surgery. They were connected with a hospital in San Francisco. After meeting with the surgical team they agreed to perform Faith’s operation. Also, Manitoba Health offered to pay for the procedure in full.

In January of 2013 Faith was put on the transplant list and recently was moved to the top.

While the cost of the surgery and flight to San Francisco is being covered by Manitoba Health, David and Sarah will need to live in California for 2-3 months. David and Sarah’s three older children will be staying in Winnipeg and this will require Sarah to make several visits back. The cost of living and post-operative medications could be more than $50,000.

To raise the money needed, David and Sarah have started a trust fund through the Bank of Montreal named Faith Konitz Trust. They are hoping to devote their time to caring for their daughter without financial stress.

The Konitz family appreciates any prayers or financial gifts that can be given as they continue to live by their faith in God.