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Houston, TX (November 10, 2015) – The NephCure Kidney Walk returns to the Houston area this Saturday, November 14^th to a new location in The Woodlands.  The walk brings together Houston area patients, friends, and family dedicated to raising awareness and vital funds to find improved treatment options and a cure for primary Chronic Kidney Diseases, including FSGS and nephrotic syndrome.

The walk will be held at Alden Bridge Park – The Woodlands, 7725 Alden Bridge Dr, Spring.  Registration opens at 9 and the walk begins at 10 a.m.

Immediately following, there will be fantastic raffle prizes and a silent auction with the chance to win tickets to the Houston Astros.

There is no registration fee, although teams are encouraged to raise at least $500, with a total event goal of $20,000. The event is open to the public, but registration is encouraged in advance at support.nephcure.org/Houston.

Local walk participant Trista Vigil will again be participating in the Houston Walk and asks that you join her this Saturday. “Why NephCure?”, says Trista. “Because it’s personal! It was early May of 1998, just days away from my 14th birthday and I noticed significant swelling in my eyes, lower extremities, and torso. After a doctor’s visit, a hospital stay, and a trip to a pediatric nephrologist 3 hours away from my home town I was told that I had nephrotic syndrome. My official diagnosis of minimal change disease wasn’t “official” until my first biopsy in 2007.”

“It was in 2005 that I came across NephCure while doing some online searching about the disease itself.” remembers Trista. “NephCure’s website had so much information. It was about 2 years later that I got involved, I was involved when the Colorado chapter was started and it was amazing to meet people who knew what I was going through. Up until that point I had never met anyone elsewho had MCD, NS, or FSGS. It was wonderful to know that there were people out there that wanted to make my life better by saving kidneys and saving lives!”

I recently had a biopsy in October of 2015 and my diagnosis is still the same, which is a relief, but this disease still impacts my life on a daily basis. Every relapse is heartbreaking. Like most people I want a cure, I want better treatments, I want to save my kidneys. NephCure is helping and I am so grateful and honored to be part of the discussions, part of the NephCure Walks, part of NephCure. I have met some amazing and inspirational individuals through NephCure, I just wish we didn’t all have in common what we have in common.”

It is estimated that kidney disease affects 31 million people in the United States alone, with African Americans being 3 times more likely to experience kidney failure. Last year, 90,000 Americans were killed by kidney disease, more than breast cancer and prostate cancer.  Some doctors believe kidney disease of this nature might be the next epidemic of our generation.

To register or donate to the NephCure Kidney Walk, please visit support.nephcure.org/houston or contact Jayne Drew at jdrew@nephcure.org

About NephCure Kidney International NephCure Kidney International (NKI) is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity established in 1999.  Comprised of patients, their families and friends, researchers, physicians and other healthcare professionals, NKI is the only organization committed exclusively to supporting research to identify the cause, improve the treatment, and find the cure of the two potentially debilitating kidney diseases, Nephrotic Syndrome and Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS).

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