Two years ago, on her first day as a first grader in Bartlett, TN, Taylor Pratt became the fifth generation of Pratt family members to show complications of PKD.

The most common of all dominant genetic diseases, PKD has plagued the Pratt family for as long as her father, Clint Pratt, can remember.

He recalls his great-grandfather dying from an undiagnosed ailment involving kidney cysts. Since then, Clint’s grandmother received a kidney transplant more than 20 years ago when her kidneys failed; his mother received a kidney transplant several years ago after spending many years on dialysis; and his aunt, who had her native kidneys removed as a result of chronic pain and infection, remains on dialysis with the hope of someday receiving a kidney transplant, as well.

Once Clint’s younger brother and sister were diagnosed with PKD, all Carri and Clint Pratt could do was hope that their young family had dodged the genetic bullet.

Unfortunately, this was not the case. When 6-year-old Taylor called her mother into the bathroom to show her bloody urine, Carri and Clint raced her to the emergency room at LeBonheur Children’s Medical Center in Memphis. It was there that Taylor began what would soon become a year-long odyssey of blood work, MRI, CT Scans, ultrasounds and frequent visits with pediatric nephrologist Dr. Deborah Jones to rule out causes for her blood-engorged kidney, other than PKD.

Tests confirmed that Taylor had experienced a cyst bleeding episode, something not uncommon in PKD patients. The PKD diagnosis also alerted them to the fact that despite her young age, Taylor exhibited signs of high blood pressure requiring medication and careful monitoring.

Given the Pratt family history and the fact that there is a 50 percent chance of a child inheriting this disease from an affected parent, Clint knew instantly that the defective gene causing Taylor’s kidney disease most likely came from him. At Carri’s urging, Clint saw a kidney specialist, had an ultrasound and learned that he, too, had oversized, cyst-filled kidneys. He was diagnosed with PKD at the age of 34.

In an effort to learn more about PKD, Carri and Clint contacted the PKD Foundation and soon became involved with the local Mid-South Chapter. Last March, they attended an education seminar focused on advances in PKD research. In June, they joined hundreds of other PKD families at the Annual Conference on PKD in Washington, D.C. At the conference, they met PKD experts and decided to enroll Taylor in an adolescent PKD clinical drug trial at Children’s Hospital in Denver.

Research studies like the one Taylor will begin later this fall are partly made possible by the PKD Foundation’s national fundraiser, the Walk For PKD.

Showing their support for the need for a cure, the Pratt family will be participating in their second Memphis Walk For PKD on Sunday, September 17 at Johnson Road Park in Germantown.

To register online, join Taylor and her family as a member of Pratt’s Patriots or simply make a donation, click here. For more information about PKD or the Memphis Walk for PKD, contact Karyn Waxman at (901) 491-4799 or pkdmidsouth@yahoo.com