"Prayers of Hope," a benefit auction for a mid-Missouri woman fighting renal failure after the birth of her daughter last year, will take place July 14 at Butch Gentry's Country Palace, 6257 County Rd. 262 in Auxvasse.
Fulton native Katey Gipson, currently living in Mexico, Mo., was in and out of the hospital for weeks at a time with kidney failure brought on by thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, (TTP,) a rare blood-coagulation system disorder.
The condition causes red blood cells to split in half, creating extensive microscopic clots throughout the body's small blood vessels. After the birth of her daughter, Sammie, the condition began displaying symptoms. Ultimately her kidneys failed as a result, which in turn triggered congestive heart failure and a stroke. The following months were full of multi-week hospital stays and dialysis treatments. It's a one in a million condition.
"My infectious disease doctor said he had never really saw a lot of it," said Gipson. "He read a little bit about it, but had never seen it."
Gipson defied the odds and fought back. She is now out of the hospital, though her kidney functionality is not back to 100 percent and she is still in line for a transplant. This has led her mother's cousin's wife, Aimee Harrison, to begin planning "Prayers of Hope" for July 14.