DENVER – A 10 year old girl is in the fight of her life right now. She was diagnosed with a rare auto-immune disease and the only cure is a kidney transplant.
Davasia Goens has what doctors used to call Wagners, now known as GPA. It’s a rare disease that attacks the organs. Doctors say it often works in silence.
“It’s one of the least common causes in kidney failure in children,” Dr. Jens Goebel at Children’s Hospital said.
For Davasia, her symptoms started as a cold, then doctors said she had asthma.
“She wasn’t getting better, she was struggling to breathe every single day, functioning really slow, sleepy tired, she didn’t want to eat,” Melanie Goens, Davasia’s mother said.
After a year of tests, pediatricians discovered kidney failure and a diagnosis of Wagner’s
Goens said, “It was just like somebody put a hood over my head and spun me around in a circle.”
Davasia needs dialysis to stay alive. She goes three to four times a week.
“Whe’s my inspiration,” Goens said. Davasia and her family are searching for a kidney match and appealing to the public for help.