“She gave me life twice”; Mom and daughter graduate nursing school together after kidney transplants

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Nija Butler knew she had a special bond with her daughter, Ambrealle, the day she was born.

“I had her when I was in high school, so we grew up together basically as siblings,” said Nija. “She’s my best friend, she’s my confidante.”

Growing up, Ambrealle was a normal, healthy child. That all changed at a routine checkup in her late 20s

“I was so young at the time, so I had forever, or so I thought,” said Ambrealle.

The doctors found one of her kidneys spilling too much protein and decided to run more tests to see what was going on.

“We went back in to get the results, and he pretty much said you won’t live if you don’t get a kidney or dialysis,” recalled Ambrealle.

They diagnosed her with a rare kidney disease called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, or FSGS, which can lead to total kidney failure.

“I can basically say that was the worst day ever,” admitted Nija. “I felt helpless listening to the doctor saying you won’t live. That was just something I never thought I would hear for my child.”

Hearing this made Ambrealle sad, mad and scared. Both she and her mother were devasted.

“As a mother, you want to be the person that can fix anything that’s going on for your child and at that moment I knew there was nothing I could do,” said Nija.

All Ambrealle could do was start dialysis and get on a wait list for a kidney transplant. Every day for the next five years, she spent up to 13 hours a day hooked up to her machine.

“That was scary knowing that this tube is keeping me alive,” said Ambrealle.

Although it was tough for Nija to watch, she was by her daughter’s side every step of the way.

“Watching her go through that and experience that, sometimes I would get into bed with her while she was on dialysis because that’s all I could do,” said Nija.

Until one day, Nija decided she had to do more.

“Ambrealle called me, and she was having one of her bad days and she was crying, and it was just in my gut that I needed to see because I really felt like I was helpless,” admitted Nija. “Even though I was being told that I probably wouldn’t be a match, I just said all they can do is tell me yes or no.”

Without telling her daughter, Nija got tested to see if she could donate one of her kidneys. Doctors told her the chance of it being a good match were highly unlikely, but not impossible. A few days after the tests, Tulane called Nija and told her she was a perfect match.

“It was probably like the best news I’ve ever heard in my life because I waited for that call for so long and I didn’t even know she was doing it,” said Ambrealle.

A few weeks later, Ambrealle and Nija were getting prepped for surgery at Tulane Medical Center. Nija’s surgery went first and after Ambrealle’s, she spent two days in ICU before she could finally see her mom.

“When she came in, she was limping, she had all her IV poles with her, she just couldn’t take it anymore,” said Ambrealle.

Nija said she couldn’t take not seeing her daughter any longer.

“All I could do was kiss her, hug her, and I just wanted to touch her to make sure she was okay,” recalled Nija. “I always felt like when she was going through this, that I couldn’t breathe. It was like holding my breath while she went through this process so when I saw her and the doctors told me that the kidney was working well, I gave her a perfect kidney, it was like I could breathe.”

Ambrealle felt the same way.

“She gave birth to me, and she gave me a second chance at life, so she gave me life twice,” said Ambrealle.

With her second chance at life, Ambrealle wanted to chase her dream of becoming a registered nurse, but not alone of course.

“We both applied, and I got in, and she didn’t,” said Nija. “I told her, ‘Well I’m not going if you’re not going!’”

Ambrealle wasn’t going to let her do that though.

“I told her no, when it’s my time, I’ll know, you go ahead without me and don’t worry,” said Ambrealle. “But the day before school started, they called me and asked if I could be in class the next morning.”

They started a 16-month registered nurse program at Baton Rouge General School of Nursing together. Through long study hours, tests, and labs, the thought of being able to give back kept Ambrealle going.

“We’re taught book-wise how the kidney works, how dialysis works, but imagine your nurse is coming in who has been where you’re sitting and I know what you’re feeling,” said Ambrealle.

Now, she’s going to get that chance. Her and her mom are set to walk across the graduation stage together at the end of April and start their careers helping others.

“Knowing that she’s going to branch out on her own and that I’m going to branch out, that’s scary for me because this is my best friend and I hope nothing changes,” said Nija.

“She’s not going to allow anything to change I mean she calls me every five minutes haha so whether I’m branching out or not, I’m not going to be far,” said Ambrealle. “I’m glad to do life with you and I love you.”

Nija and Ambrealle said they have big plans of starting their own business together and continuing to help other kidney patients and their families.

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