Renal failure won’t dent Olympic dream
Katherine Paton is not letting anything stop her striving towards her Olympic dream.
Paton is a member of the national rhythmic gymnastics team who are attempting to qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo but her story is more inspirational than most could even imagine.
The 24-year-old, who is now seeking her second kidney donor, suffers from end-stage renal failure.
Undergoing dialysis four times a day does not stop Paton from training for more than four hours each day for six days of the week.
‘‘I have end-stage renal failure from a genetic mutation . . . so I have zero kidney function,’’ Paton told Seven Sharp.
The dialysis is the only thing keeping her alive.
‘‘Without it I’d live for . . . two weeks?’’ But the courageous competitor refuses to let what many would consider a significant disadvantage hold her back.
‘‘I just wanna live my best life,’’ Paton said.
In 2008, Paton’s mother Sandra Paton gave her daughter one of her kidneys but after eight years her body began to reject the kidney and it had to be removed.
Paton, who carries an advertisement for a new donor on her car door, is on the deceased donor list for a kidney.
Sandra Paton and her daughter have continued to stay positive as they wait for news of a new donor.
‘‘As you can see she’s not sitting around moping about it, she’s moving on,’’ she told Seven Sharp.
Paton and her team-mates will soon embark on a five-week tour of Russia, Belarus and Bulgaria as they prepare for their Olympic qualifiers.
Paton has to transport her dialysis fluids to all of her training and competition venues.
She is currently organising dozens of boxes of fluid for her dialysis treatment to be sent around the world so it will be in each of her locations when she arrives.
All of Paton’s team-mates have also agreed to carry a box of the dialysis fluid.
‘‘I think we’re going to make it work.’’ She has a simple mindset that she takes into each routine.
‘‘Just go out there and show who you are, show your personality,’’ Paton said.
Paton’s coach Marnie Sterner is full of admiration for her most inspiring athlete.
‘‘She’s one of the best gymnasts in New Zealand,’’ coach Marnie Sterner said. ‘‘She performs with her soul and her heart and her technique is absolutely outstanding.’’