St Catherine nurse battling end-stage kidney failure seeks transplant support

Shemoya Chamberlain learned she had Type 1 diabetes when she was only six. Rather than let the condition set the limits of her life, she set her sights on nursing so she could support others facing illness.

“I wanted to become a nurse because of my own experience,” the Watermount, Point Hill, St Catherine resident told THE STAR. “Having an underlying condition and not wanting to see people sick pushed me into going into that profession. That’s always been my passion.”

She completed her studies at St Catherine High School and later trained as a practical nurse at the Spanish Town Learning Institute, finishing in 2021. Her plan after that was to pick up two more science subjects, then apply to the University of Technology for a full nursing degree.

That path was interrupted by a second, unexpected medical crisis. “I just started feeling sick. I didn’t think it was anything serious because there was nothing happening before to show me any signs,” she said.

Clinicians then informed her she had reached end-stage renal failure — news she struggled to process. “They told me I have end-stage renal failure. I was so confused, questioning how I’ve been doing check-ups and tests and I’ve never heard anything about there being an issue with the kidneys,” she said.

Chamberlain said she had kept her diabetes under close watch for years. “At some point in high school there were days when I would get sick every now and then because of the underlying condition, but nothing extreme,” she said. She finished nursing training, worked part-time as a nurse in a doctor’s office, and kept chickens as a side venture.

Illness struck in March 2025 and ultimately brought the kidney diagnosis. Acceptance was especially difficult because an ultrasound only about two months earlier had shown no cause for alarm. “The kidneys were normal size and nothing abnormal, so how do I have end-stage renal failure?” she questioned.

Early treatment relied on drugs meant to clear built-up fluid, but her condition worsened quickly. “One night, I got so sick I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I was suffocating and went back into the hospital and that’s when they had to do emergency dialysis,” she said. She was also found to have fluid in her lungs and pneumonia.

“Since then, it has been doctor’s appointments, dialysis and hospital visits. They’ve told me that there’s a bit of a complication with the heart and I just feel like everything is going wrong,” she lamented.

The strain is emotional and financial. “It’s expensive and, with my heart now being affected, that’s an additional concern,” she said. Physicians have indicated a kidney transplant gives her the strongest prospect of greater independence. “Looking beyond that, they are thinking maybe it’s best to do both a kidney transplant and a pancreatic transplant to counter the diabetes from developing into a Type 2,” said Chamberlain.

She said a kidney transplant can be arranged in Jamaica, but the dual transplant would require care abroad. “The kidney transplant alone in Jamaica is millions of dollars,” she said.

Relatives are under pressure meeting the bills. “My sister has been footing most of the bills and I appreciate everyone who has pitched in any way they can, but my family cannot afford it, so we started a GoFundMe to try and get some assistance,” Chamberlain said. “My sister is trying to get information from doctors or even the Ministry of Health to see if we could get some form of assistance or to find the best hospital overseas that can do the procedures.”

Her most recent hospital stay lasted two weeks and produced a bill exceeding $400,000.