'No page like it': Kildare woman launches online support group for kidney patients across Ireland

A Kildare woman whose family has spent years navigating kidney disease and dialysis treatment has launched a new online support group on Facebook.

'Irish Kidney Warriors' is aimed at helping kidney patients and their families across Ireland connect, share experiences, and support one another.

Tina O’Kelly set up the private Facebook group after realising there was no dedicated Irish online space where kidney patients could ask questions, seek reassurance, or simply talk to others going through similar experiences.

The group, which is just two weeks old, has already begun attracting members from across the country.

The motivation behind the initiative was Tina's daughter, Colleen, who had a kidney transplant, which was successful for 15 years.

Last year, she got very sick and ended up back on dialysis again.

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Tina shared how it was her family's experience that highlighted the need for a community-led support network. 

"There is no page like it in Ireland. There are plenty of pages in America, but if you have something pertaining particularly to Ireland, there’s nobody that you could ask," she said. 

While praising the work of the Irish Kidney Association, which has joined the Facebook group, Tina said she felt there was still a gap when it came to immediate peer-to-peer interaction.

Tina hopes the group can become a place where people feel comfortable sharing concerns about treatments, symptoms, and daily life with kidney disease.

"Somebody could come on and say, ‘Well, my creatinine is 269, is that really bad?’ and somebody else could answer," she said.

She is now preparing to send posters promoting the group to dialysis centres nationwide in the hope that hospitals and clinics will display them for patients.

Dialysis treatment can dominate family life and routines, according to Tina.

"You could be on it for three hours or five hours. It does take up a lot of time, specifically if you’re doing it in-centre because you’ve got to travel there, have it set up on the machine, and then travel home after," she explained.

"We found that we were working our whole lives around Monday, Wednesday, Friday," Tina added.

The private Facebook group is open to anyone affected by kidney disease, including relatives, carers, and medical staff.

Tina stressed that the group is not intended to replace medical advice, but instead offer reassurance and practical support from people with lived experience.

She hopes the group will ultimately become a supportive community where people can connect online and, down the line, maybe in person.

"It’ll be an information page, but you never know where it might lead," Tina said. 

To request to join the Irish Kidney Warriors group, click the link here.