By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

WITH more than 600 Bahamians now dependent on government-funded dialysis, kidney patients and living donors are urging greater investment in transplant options, saying their experiences prove that one healthy kidney is enough for a full, productive life.

Health officials have long warned that chronic kidney disease, driven largely by hypertension and diabetes, is among the country’s deadliest and costliest conditions. Patients on dialysis describe it as exhausting, restrictive, and emotionally draining — while those who undergo transplants say the surgery is life-changing.

66-year-old Elizabeth Knowles said dialysis left her weak, unable to eat, and confined to a wheelchair. “Dialysis kept me alive, but it took everything out of me,” she said in an interview with The Tribune. After her sister donated a kidney in November 2024, she said the change was immediate: “I’m back to normal. Your spirit, your mind, it controls your health. I always look at the glass half full, never half empty.”

Arnold Forbes, 60, was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease in 2001 and called dialysis “brutal on the body.” His wife donated a kidney, and more than 20 years later, he remains healthy. “Post-transplant, your life is basically back to normal. It is a 360-degree turn from doing dialysis,” he said, adding that living donor kidneys often last longer than those from deceased donors.

For Tamika Roberts, donating a kidney to her brother was instinctive. “It wasn’t a question,” she said. “I knew I wanted to, because I wanted to give my brother a second chance at life.” Today, she serves as president of the Bahamas Kidney Association, campaigning for awareness and prevention. “Ultimately, transplant is the end goal,” she said. “But family, friends, that community, it is so important in terms of your journey.”

Doctors estimate hundreds more Bahamians could benefit from transplant if living donation were encouraged and supported. For now, patients say, too many remain trapped on dialysis — alive, but far from truly living.