‘In sickness and in health’: South Charleston woman donates kidney to husband with rare kidney disease

SOUTH CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – “In sickness and in health,” these are the vows that married couples hold dear, but for one South Charleston couple, those words show that love and hope can conquer all.

Kaleigh and Unique Washington met about five years ago when Kaleigh was a Health Science student at Marshall University. Their relationship was picture-perfect. Then, everything changed in February 2023, when Unique started to get sick with an unknown disease.

“It kept on getting worse and worse. They did a second biopsy which showed a rare kidney disease called FSGS,” he says.

Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a kidney disease that damages the ability to filter waste from the blood. This can lead to kidney failure. Shortly after Unique’s diagnosis, he was put on dialysis, but this solution would only be temporary.

Kaleigh and Unique planned to have their wedding ceremony in Florida, where Kaleigh’s grandparents lived, but once the couple arrived, they had to postpone the celebration. Unique would be admitted to a nearby hospital for two weeks, and be put back onto dialyses for months.

“His leg was like really humongous, which they thought he had a blood clot from flying and they took him to the hospital,” says Kaleigh.

Then, doctors told him he needed a new kidney.

After several months on the donor list, they thought they had found relief.

“We have good news we have a kidney for you we want you to come in. So we were getting everything packed and called one of his sisters to get Kyrie, our kid, and as we were walking out the door they called and they said that it never left North Carolina and that it was a bad kidney,” says Kaleigh.

Kaleigh decided to go through donor testing so she could see if she was a possible match for her husband.

“I was laying in bed one night and I asked God to give me a sign if I should be the one to donate and I think I had went back to sleep, and the doctor at CAMC called me and told me I was a perfect match,” she said.

One month ago on Aug. 11, the couple underwent hours of surgery. The surgery was successful, but there is still a long road to recovery ahead.

The couple says this has challenged their family and made them stronger, and Unique says he is blessed and will be forever grateful.

“Kaleigh really did give me the ultimate gift of life and there’s nothing I can do to pay her back for it,” Unique said.

And though it is still early in their marriage, they say their love has already survived the ultimate test.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help their family as well. You can find it here .

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOWK 13 News.