Jakobs ASB Marathon to fundraise for kidney kids Nz

This year Jakob wants to do the ASB kids marathon and help raise funds for Kidney Kids NZ.

Jakob is a happy 6 year old who has faced many challenges in his life. He was born with a single kidney with vesicoureteral reflux and hydronephrosis. His first operation was at 5 weeks old and after many an operation is doing really well. Despite having a mitrofanoff stoma, Jakob is an active, confident and inspirational little guy who lives life to the fullest. He started school last year and continues to flourish. As a family we are grateful for all the love and care we received from starship and Kidney kids NZ as they played a big role in helping us raise such a brave kid.

After seeing me finish the 11km traverse the last two years and his uncle complete the full ASB marathon last year he has wanted to do it himself. So this year Jakob will be completing the ASB kids marathon... We know that this will be really great for his confidence, promote a healthy lifestyle, raise awareness for Kidney kids Nz and be a really fun experience for our family.

Kidney kids NZ is a not for profit organisation that supports children, their families and whanau with kidney disease. Currently they look after 400 families across NZ and 423 kidney kids including our little Jakob.

Their strategic goals include:

-To ensure that those children who experience kidney disease have the best lives possible, and that they are not disadvantaged as they progress though education and into employment as young adults

- To make kidney kids more sustainable by improving our funding strategies

- To partner with Starship Foundation to provide funding for a nephrology fellowship to ensure ongoing training of paediatric care physicians at starship childrens hospital

- To help fund the development and implementation of Renal Reality: a patient database management system for Starship, to improve patient care