Table of Contents
Seeing a teenager saving his father's life after tragedy through organ donation
Symaria Glenn, 13, passed away unexpectedly. Her family chose to donate organs and save five lives, including her own father.
- Fairhaven's Nelly Zigiel was diagnosed with GPA vasculitis, a rare disease, over a decade ago.
- She faces other health challenges in her younger life. Vasculitis can affect the kidneys, lungs and brain.
- Zygiel is a student at UMass Amherst and has become involved in a student-led group that raises awareness of organ donation.
Friends and family may sign the cast when they break their arm, but Nelly Ziggiel has signed a kidney-shaped pillow.
The pillow has great significance to Zygiel, who received a kidney gift donated by a neighbor from Fairhaven at the age of 21. Beth Israel Dei Conness Medical Center in Boston Great ve day in 2024.
Zygiel was diagnosed in February 2014 Granulomatosis with polyangiopathic (GPA) vasculitisA rare condition that causes damage to blood vessels by causing inflammation and swelling. It was affecting her kidneys, lungs and brain.
In January 2023, she went with her parents, Cheryl and Tom Zigiel, for a medical check-up with a nephrologist who specializes in treating diseases affecting the kidneys.
On February 13, 2023, she finally found out she needed a kidney transplant.
“I never thought I'd hear the words 'I need a transplant',” she said. “There were times when it didn't help, but I was over 18 and they couldn't handle me any more, so I had to switch hospitals.”
That summer she met with Beth Israel's new nephrologist and the hospital's transplant team. In January 2024, she was added to the transplant list and was able to search for donors.
She said it was kind of trauma to say the least, but her doctor told her to live her life and have good news: she was about to live.
Her early life is hard
Zygiel grew up in both Fairhaven and Marion on West Island, attending local schools before graduating from Fairhaven High School in 2022.
When she was about 2 years old, Zygiel was diagnosed with scleroderma, a chronic disease of the skin and bone tissue. At 8 o'clock she was diagnosed with Court's illness. Coat's illness was a rare, congenital eye disease, which permanently blinded his left eye and required surgery to stop the leakage of the blood vessels.
At 10 o'clock, she really got sick and couldn't get over what she felt like a cold. She was said to have a sinus infection and was given antibiotics.
However, during that time, she lost her appetite and fainted. Once, after losing her eyesight, she turned black and entered the door. She found blood in her urine and was scared to tell her parents. At this time, her eyes were also swollen and tear.
She was in fourth grade, but she walked around the school with her round cotton rounds and patted her eyes. The doctor told her it was a stubborn sinus infection. One day, her parents took her to meet an ophthalmologist at Boston Children's Hospital. The next day, Zygiel's eyes were completely red and swollen, and the family returned.
“The only time she said was the 'going to the child's ER' period,” she said.
Again, she was told it was a sinus infection. A rheumatoid ally diagnosed her with vasculitis, but once again the doctors and dermatologists opposed her. A week later, the test results confirmed the diagnosis.
“Of course it was vasculitis, he was right,” she said. “He's still my rheumatologist.”
A biopsy confirmed that a rare disease had an effect on the kidneys. The spine snake discovered that her lungs were infected with the disease and her brain was swollen. She later learned that if her brain continued to swell, her outcome could have been even worse.
Thank you to her donor
Zygiel said she was very grateful to her kidney donor.
“It's really cool that someone who's compatible with me is one of my neighbors,” she said.
When she recovered from surgery, she was happy to hear people say that people could see more colour on her face. She is drawn once a week and is monitored once a month in the hospital.
New chapter on campus
Zygiel is a junior UMass Amherst Honors College. Since her transplant, she has resumed her studies in education and psychology. She has taken precautions against infectious diseases, including wearing a mask. She hopes to graduate in 2026.
She said she wanted to be an expert in children's life. Boston Children's Hospital One day, it becomes a support system that children can rely on. She also wants to explore other careers in education and organ donation.
Two roommates who are closely connected to organ donations learned New England Donor Services For an organization called Soda, I supported the student organization's donation and started the chapter at UMass Amherst.
Through Soda, she connected with donor services in New England and became a volunteer.
“I really enjoy it and that's definitely something I want to do in the long run,” she said. “I volunteer at Donor Services in New England and want to spread awareness about how important organ donation is and signing up to become an organ donor. It's definitely cool to have chapters on campus.”
The UMass Soda chapter included soda from last semester's soda event. There, organ donors and organ donors could get free donuts, or sign up for email lists to learn more about the club and get soda.
“It was cool to hear from other kids how important the topic was. It was fun to be involved with the community in that sense, even just letting people know about organ donation,” she said.
You can reach standard Times staff writer Kathring Galelani kgallerani@gannett.com. Support your local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription for today's standard time.
