MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A mother’s love is like no other.
“I’ve only been through three surgeries without my momma,” said Shantina Redmon. “She’s been there every step of the way.”
Those steps include 179 surgeries. The 25-year-old started having issues with high blood pressure when she was nine.
After going to several hospitals, LeBonheur Children’s Hospital discovered she was in stage 4 kidney failure.
“I was taking 188 pills a day,” said Redmon. “Pills a day at the age of nine. Because at the time, they didn’t actually know what was wrong with me.”
Redmon’s mom quit working to take care of her daughter who started dialysis at 13. At 15, there seemed to be hope.
“I actually got a transplant,” she shared. “It came from a girl who had heart failure so I was in the hospital for 10 months, trying to save the kidney, which it wasn’t savable.”
Then in 2018, Redmon learned she had kidney cancer and ended up losing both kidneys. She said her will and faith’s been tested, but her mom never wavered.
“My dad had a 4-wheeler accident so she was running from LeBonheur to Methodist Hospital to be with my dad and to be with me," she said.
Her dad died and she ended up losing a baby due to the stress. But she’s still remaining strong.
The budding author wants to be a mentor, start a kidney foundation and has plans to go to nursing school.
Redmon, who is now a medical assistant, shared who has been a motivating factor.
“It was hard,” she said. “I had to get a connection with God because he was the one that was bringing me through it.”
Her resilient spirit was strengthened.
“It was hard because most of the time it was just me and my momma,” Redmon said, wiping away tears. “She was not working and she didn’t have money to eat sometimes.”
Others stepped up.
“The (hospital) cafeteria people would put extra food on my plate so my momma could eat," she explained. "It was hard though, I’m glad we both made it.”
In doing so, they found a purpose to inspire others.
“It’s for a reason,” Redmon said. “I feel like God picked me to go through it to help somebody for a reason.”