Shemoya needs help to beat health crisis

At just six years old, Shemoya Chamberlain was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes but, instead of allowing the illness to define her, it inspired a dream to become a nurse and help others live healthier lives.

“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.”

Chamberlain, who attended St Catherine High School before graduating from the Spanish Town Learning Institute as a practical nurse in 2021, said her next goal was to complete two additional science subjects so she could enroll at the University of Technology and earn her nursing degree.

Then, without warning, another devastating diagnosis changed everything.

“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. Doctors eventually delivered news that she said left her in disbelief.

“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.

Although she had lived with diabetes since childhood, Chamberlain said she had always managed the condition carefully.

“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 made it through nursing school, balanced a part-time nursing job at a doctor’s office, and even raised chickens on the side. But then she got sick in March 2025, which eventually led to her frightening diagnosis. She said it was even harder to accept because, just two months earlier, an ultrasound had shown no warning signs.

“The kidneys were normal size and nothing abnormal, so how do I have end-stage renal failure?” she questioned. Initially, doctors tried to manage her condition with medication to remove excess fluid, but her health rapidly deteriorated.

“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. Chamberlain was later told that she had fluid on her lungs as well as 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 emotional toll has been matched by an overwhelming financial burden, as renal failure is not easy to treat.

“It’s expensive and, with my heart now being affected, that’s an additional concern,” she said.

Doctors say a kidney transplant offers her the best chance to live a more independent life.

“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 explained that while kidney transplants are available locally, the combined procedure would have to be done overseas.

“The kidney transplant alone in Jamaica is millions of dollars,” she said. The mounting costs have left her family struggling to keep up.

“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.” Chamberlain said that the last time she was admitted was for two weeks, with the bill soaring to more than $400,000.