When Delana Rovensky was a teenager, she was diagnosed with IgA Nephropathy, also known as Berger’s Disease, a rare progressive autoimmune kidney disease.
After decades of living with the disease, the 49-year-old now in end-stage kidney failure and is searching for a living kidney donor with blood type O+ or O–.
“Once I was on the deceased donor list, I was told it’s a five to nine-year wait given my blood type,” she said. “So, we are doing as much as we can.”
Some of her friends and family have tested but weren’t a match, so she turned her attention to the general public.
“I’ve had four people test. Good news was two of the people actually didn’t know they had kidney issues so this was good for them,” she laughed. “They are able to now start their treatment and preventative measures.”
“I’m progressively getting sicker and time is starting to run (out).”
Rovensky and her friends and family are relying heavily on social media and word of mouth to help get their message out.
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“We have been sharing on Facebook as much as we can, Instagram, TikTok,” she said. “We’ve also done up T-shirts that we people bought, so if they’re out for walks, they wear the T-shirt to get communication going about transplant donation.”
“We hope that gets the message out there that I’m looking,” she said.
The disease has greatly impacted her day-to-day life. Rovensky undergoes dialysis four times a day at home.
“I have a catheter in my abdomen, which fluid goes into. It sits for three hours and then it’s replaced with new fluid,” she said. “That’s how I remove the toxins from my system.”
Rovensky’s brother has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise awareness about Rovensky’s need for a kidney and help with the financial toll the condition has taken, including travel to and from medical appointments, medications and daily living expenses, as Rovensky has been unable to work.
The family would also like to financially support a potential donor through the process. Great White Car Wash donated $5 for all washes on World Kidney Day (March 12) to the fundraiser, and due to the weather, the business has extended the same promotion for March 19.
“It impacts not just me, but the ripple effect, you know, my family, my friends,” she said. “It’s a lot of support emotionally, mentally, physically.”
In a statement, Give Life Alberta said the demand for kidney transplants continues to outweigh the number of kidney donations across the country.
“Some patients can wait years for a deceased donor, while the wait for those with a living donor can be considerably shorter,” the statement reads.
While Give Life Alberta considers living donors recruited through the public solicitation process and anonymous donors, it does not participate in the recruitment process.
The organization said in 2025, 272 deceased people donated organs and tissues in Alberta, while 75 living donors gave either a kidney or a lobe of their liver. It said more than 500 Albertans are waiting for life-saving organ transplants. In 2025, 53 people on the wait list died.
Rovensky hopes that by sharing her story publicly, someone out there may get tested and could be a match for her or someone else who’s waiting.
“It would mean everything,” she said. “It would mean living a life.”
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