Like a phoenix, Kate Cole has been consumed time and time again by pyre and pain.
In December 2012, Kate, who was in her 20s and from Point Cook in Melbourne, found out she had kidney failure.
She would need dialysis to remove waste and clean her blood, as well as a kidney transplant.
Without it, kidney failure may as well be a loaded gun: fatal.
Before treatment could begin, though, Kate caught a bug in April 2013 and couldn’t get better.
This prompted an urgent dose of nightly haemodialysis — a machine that filters the waste and fluid from the blood when a person’s kidneys are no longer healthy enough to do this work adequately.
If you thought this was her health’s incineration, think again.
A few months later, Kate was in a car accident.
She suffered severe internal damage, particularly to her diaphragm.
“There was a hole in my diaphragm, making dialysis not an option for me, and the fluid from the accident further damaged my kidney,” she said.
In a coma for 12 days, Kate received round-the-clock dialysis, made possible by an operation to create a haemodialysis port in her chest.
She eventually woke on the 15th day, brittle and unable to talk, walk, or, in her words, “do anything”.
Her doctors issued one more painful revelation — she now needed kidney and pancreas transplants.
Kate spent the next 18 months confined to a wheelchair, learning to walk and talk again, which she did.
But the accident had left her with an acquired brain injury.
“I get confused with things and, sometimes, I can’t feel my limbs any more ... writing is difficult, I can’t,” she said.
It’s the little things that many take for granted.
Kate said she knew how to get dressed but didn’t remember what order to do it in.
“My occupational therapist told me to lay out the clothes first,” she said.
“I knew how to put the jumper on, I just didn’t know when.”
A small giggle escaped her lips when she recalled her atypical wardrobe malfunctions.
“I’m a bit special – my husband helps put my bra on,” she said.
Kate walked on the burning embers of her trauma following the accident, and in 2014, she was diagnosed with depression and anxiety.
Then, the kidney and pancreas weren’t the only organs failing her.
“In 2015, I had my first heart attack and a second heart attack in 2018 on my 33rd birthday,” she said.
“The doctors said they need to put in a defibrillator ... I’ve already had medical things done before, having two toes removed, so I decided to get the defibrillator in.”
On the day of the operation, a professor told her the defibrillator wouldn’t prevent another attack, so the surgery did not go ahead.
But her time in the operating theatre was merely delayed.
In 2018, Kate was on the fast track to getting a kidney-pancreas transplant until she found out her donor had cancer.
With rattled resilience, she pushed on, and in January 2019, life-changing news came.
“There was a second phone call for a match,” she said.
“The doctors didn’t think I was strong enough to make the surgery.
“I did have the surgery, and it was successful, but it was the worst 10 days of my life.”
The surgery itself left her feeling battered and exhausted.
And it wasn’t just the physical pain that had Kate in a smoky haze of ache; it was the guilt of receiving the organs.
“It’s hard to know that I survived while knowing that someone else has lost a loved one,” she said.
“I’ll always feel guilty for my donor’s family.
“I did send a letter to them, to which they never responded, but I will always respect their wishes.”
In 2022, Kate and her husband decided to start a family of their own.
The statistics for conceiving naturally were not in their favour, and the couple opted to try IVF.
Although the procedure was unsuccessful, a miracle occurred.
Kate was going to be a mother.
Furthermore, her life had been twice blessed — she was having twins.
“But then we found out one of them (Blake) didn’t have a heartbeat,” she said.
“I still mourn Blake.”
The fires during her pregnancy dared to dance again when Kate was diagnosed with preeclampsia, causing her donor organs to fail from the stress on her body.
Following an emergency C-section, her baby boy, Harley, was born.
He was extremely premature at 27 weeks old and weighed just 816 grams.
“It was so scary. I didn’t get to see him for three days,” Kate said.
“I couldn’t hold him; he was so small.
“No-one prepares you not to bring your baby home ... I don’t think anyone can understand the journey unless you go through it.”
Doctors and nurses, whom she dubbed “fairy godmothers”, cared for her newborn.
Baby Harley had calcification of the kidney, a condition where too much calcium is built up in an organ, and he required three blood transfusions and breastmilk donations.
“It scares me because I had kidney issues,” Kate said.
“I was scared he’d be diabetic like me, too, but that hasn’t happened as of now.”
Nine weeks passed (and what felt like a lifetime for his parents) before 36-week-old Harley could come home.
Presently, Harley is approaching his first birthday.
“He’s so smiley, so strong and determined,” Kate said.
“We’re trying to get him to sit up on his own.”
As for Kate, her transplant has seen her into her 37th year of life.
“It’s amazing. It took about six weeks to get used to (the donor organs), but I feel a lot better,” she said.
“Unfortunately, I had a stroke last October — I just thought I had a migraine, but it turned out to be a stroke — and the mental health side of things is still tough.”
Kate could say she greets hell like an old friend, having been there far too many times in her young life.
But each cut under the knife, each breaking point, leaves a crack.
And that’s how the light gets in.
For Kate, that light had a rainbow.
“I came across Zaidee’s Rainbow Foundation when I first got sick in my 20s,” she said.
“I couldn’t find anyone I could relate to, but when I came across the site, I was interested in her story.”
Zaidee’s Rainbow Foundation is a charity formed in honour of Shepparton-local Zaidee Turner, who died from a cerebral aneurysm in 2004.
At seven years of age, Zaidee became an organ and tissue donor, saving and improving the lives of others.
After enduring so much beyond her control internally, Kate was compelled to raise awareness for the cause in the outside world.
She was approached by the founder and proud dad of Zaidee, Allan Turner, to feature in an upcoming documentary about organ and tissue donation in Australia.
“I think a lot of people don’t understand that needing an organ or tissue transplant can happen to anyone, so when we made the documentary, and I saw it, I was blown away,” she said.
“Zaidee’s motto is ‘have the discussion’ — it’s not about forcing people to do it, it’s about having this important conversation with your loved ones.”
The documentary stated that Australia was approaching 2000 people who needed transplants, and it was going to grow.
“The documentary highlights that one person can save up to seven people,” Kate said.
After filming, Kate became an ambassador for the foundation in 2015, attending functions and public speaking on behalf of the organisation.
“I’m there to be a face. I’m a real person who others can relate to, and I’m someone people can talk to,” she said.
When asked why Zaidee’s is so important, Kate said, “There’s nothing else like it”.
“We run events that approach different people and try to educate people on what organ transplants are and crush myths surrounding it,” she said.
“I hope we continue to have the conversation and keep seeing organ and donor registrations happen.”
Her passion for the cause is palpable.
For someone who spent over a decade putting out the flames, this is a different flare that has ignited — Kate has found her life’s purpose.
You’ve heard about her descent.
Now, watch her rise.
• To learn more about Zaidee’s Rainbow Foundation and organ and tissue donor registration in Australia, visit https://www.zaidee.org/