FGCU senior authors book to help young kids with chronic illness

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The Kidney Kronicles: Discovery (Book One) by Mackenzie Morgan.

A senior at Florida Gulf Coast University wanted to share her experience dealing with a chronic illness, so she authored a book for children that helps with the process of taking on diseases like the one she had.

Makenzie Morgan, once thought she would not make it to high school graduation, and now as a senior in college, she wrote a book called The Kidney Chronicles: Discovery, with the mission to help kids diagnosed with chronic illness.

She was diagnosed with a kidney disease she battled at a young age.

“At the age of two I was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease, they gave my parents a 10 percent chance of me living past the age of 6,” said Makenzie.

A kidney transplant treated Makenzie’s disease initially but during her senior year she learned her body was rejecting the organ.

“It took about two years to get through some intense infusions, I honestly didn’t think of college as an option, I was just trying to survive at that point,” said Makenzie.

Now she is surviving on that kidney, and is sharing her story in hopes of inspiring other going through similar problems. Her first book, The Kidney Chronicles: Discovery, is just one of seven she plans to write.

“So my goal is to prepare these kids at a young age that, you will have to get a transplant but it’s not the end of the world,” said Makenzie.

Makenzie says she wants the characters in the story to inform and empower the children as they read through the book.

Makenzie is also working with the Kidney Foundation and local non-profits and she plans to continue using FGCU’s Institute for Entrepreneurship to expand her reach.

If you would like to purchase Makenzies Book, The Kidney Chronicles: Discovery, you can visit her website here.

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