The living epitome of “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!” is the ‘Modern Family’ actor Sarah Hyland. She has been active in performing arts since a very young age which sowed the seeds of being in the limelight. Sarah started as a child actor featuring in films made for television, adaptations of stage dramas into films, and finally, in 2009, she got her big break in the hit ABC sitcom series ‘Modern Family’.
The passion for stage and acting has been in her genes due to her parents. Both Melissa D. Canaday and Edward Jones are actors. But, there is something else as well that she genetically inherited which made her go through physical and mental agony. Kidney Dysplasia, a condition affecting the functioning of your kidneys hindering the process of filtration of your blood. Let’s get to know more about the condition that Hyland suffered and how did she battle it?
Read More: Who Is Wells Adams, Husband Of ‘Modern Family’ Star Sarah Hyland?
What Is Kidney Dysplasia, The Condition That Affected Sarah Hyland?
The kidney is an essential organ in the human body that helps to filter the impurity out of the blood and get rid of toxins in the form of urine. When a fetus is growing in the womb, a network called tubules branches out of the two tubes known as ureters. These tubules help to channel the deposit of urine out of the body. These tubules do not form a network due to kidney dysplasia. It causes cysts causing urine accumulation.
The effect can range from mild affecting only one kidney to severely failing the functionality of both kidneys. Faulty genetics or wrong drug consumptions during pregnancy can lead to this. Kidney Dysplasia can create many complications including Urinary Tract Infections.
The cause of the genetic passing is called Polycystic kidney disease which is of two types: Autosomal dominant is when genes are passed from one parent; Autosomal dominant is when both parents transmit the faulty genes without suffering from the problem themselves. It can also lead to a condition known as hydronephrosis. When one of the kidneys is not functioning, the infections cause blockage of the flow of urine leading to the kidneys and ureters, which aren’t branched out properly to swelling.
Read More: What Is Aphasia, The Condition That Compelled Bruce Willis To Retire?
Sarah Hayland Shared Her Story Of Resilience
The actress had a silent healing when she had to have a second kidney transplant when the first one failed. In 2012, her father donated his kidney. But, her battle has been going on since she was four years old with as many as 16 surgeries. Everything was sailing smoothly until 2016. The transplant failed leading to severe health conditions including a large amount of creatinine.
Hyland had frequent visits to the doctor due to the failure of the body to welcome the change. Her doctors compared her condition to “a home that had caught on fire” as a blazing house cannot be retained to the new condition. She was on dialysis for most of 2017 until the kidney of her brother matched and is perfect for another transplant. After removing the defective kidney, they replaced it with her brother’s kidney.
The whole condition took a toll on Sarah’s health, not only physically but mentally too. In an interview with Self, she bared her soul about how she was depressed. She said, “I was very depressed. When a family member gives you a second chance at life, and it fails, it almost feels like it’s your fault. It’s not. But it does”.
The circumstances were so gruesome that she felt to end her life. “For a long time, I was contemplating suicide, because I didn’t want to fail my little brother like I failed my dad. I had gone through [my whole life] of always being a burden, of always having to be looked after, having to be cared for”.
However, the resilient Sarah asks people with any health conditions to open up about how they felt without feeling ashamed. She said, “It’s not shameful. For anybody that wants to reach out to somebody but doesn’t really know how because they’re too proud or they think that they’ll be looked upon as weak, it’s not a shameful thing to say. It’s not a shameful thing to share”.
Read More: Top 5 Thanksgiving Themed Sitcom Episodes
