ANKENY, Iowa — Anna Harlow’s wedding day was everything she dreamed of.
Almost exactly one year ago, the Ankeny resident said “I do,” surrounded by family and friends. But those closest to Harlow had no idea of the secret that she was keeping.
“I was excited to be a newlywed, but instead I had a different thing to focus on," Harlow told Local 5.
Mere days before her wedding, she received a phone call with news she never saw coming: Harlow was in stage five renal failure, diagnosed with chronic kidney disease at 24-years-old.
The disease affects more than one in seven U.S. adults—about 35.5 million people—according to the CDC.
But Harlow wasn’t going to let the diagnosis ruin her big day.
"It was a fun day, and I had a great time," Harlow said. "A lot of people didn’t know that I was gonna be starting dialysis real soon.”
While she and her husband Dillon thought they would be relaxing on the beach in Alabama after their wedding day, a trip to the hospital was in order instead.
"I was on dialysis Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and I eventually started it at five in the morning," Harlow said. "It's the equivalent to running a marathon on your body, so it's rough."
The dialysis treatment was three days a week, along with a restrictive renal diet to keep her healthy. Then came a referral to the University of Iowa Organ Transplant Center, where Harlow was placed on a waiting list for a new kidney.
On average, most people spend three to five years waiting on the UNOS list before receiving a transplant, according to Harlow. With each passing day, she wondered when her turn would arrive.
Harlow's mom, Sheri Fogarty, took to Facebook in an effort to find potential donors for her daughter. In total, four people were approved as a potential donor match.
It turns out the right match, however, would be Fogarty herself.
"We were talking for a while and then I started to realize, she doesn't know that it's me," Fogarty recalled of the day Harlow was notified that a donor had been found.
It was a special moment between mother and daughter, one that became even more special on transplant day.
"After our surgeries, I was able to walk over to mom and go see her, she was able to walk over to me.," Harlow said. "It was straight out of a movie."
Nearly three months since the July 20 transplant date, Harlow and Fogarty are taking time to reflect on their fear, their joy and the life lessons they learned.
"Life is really short. And you don't know how many people you have in your corner until something happens," Harlow said.
"Someone said to me, 'What a blessing it was that I got to give life twice,'" Fogarty added. "Just a really powerful experience."
The mother-daughter pair hope their story will help raise awareness of the need for organ donation. According to UNOS, there are currently over 100,000 people on their list, waiting for an organ transplant.