Her face is on posters in New West parks – and she needs your help

The first thing you notice about Poonam Hamal – before the mask has to go over her nose and mouth – is her smile. It’s warm and comforting, and you can tell she’s in her element as she looks around to take in the beauty of Tipperary Park.

It’s why it can sometimes be tough to believe that this kind, hard-working mother of three is going to dialysis almost every day because both of her kidneys have stopped working. 

“My mom’s illness is called IgA nephropathy, and it’s an auto-immune disease,” explains Poonam’s son Shaurab Hamal. “She was diagnosed in 2011. Over the years, she tried different kinds of medicine, she went back to Nepal [to try and find some treatment there], because there’s no cure identified,” says Shaurab. By 2019, her kidneys had failed. What’s more, Poonam’s blood type is B+, which Shaurab says is considered one of the most difficult to find a match for. 

“She’s on dialysis every night, and that’s from 9 pm to 6 am. That’s been tough with COVID, because my mom and my dad are social people,” notes Shaurab. “We’ve had zero people come [inside] our house. If they do, they sit outside, and during the winters, that’s tough.” Her illness has also meant no longer volunteering within the Nepalese community, which they have been very active in for years. 

Poonam’s husband Davendra Hamal says he feels helpless watching his wife go through the process. He was the first to sign up to be a living donor, but his sugar levels were too high, taking him out as an option. 

“She has trouble with her potassium, calcium, iron, [all] those things. Now she has problems [with] blood pressure. Before this, she was always so happy, she’s always laughing – still she’s trying to maintain those things – but sometimes it’s hard to do so,” explains Davendra.

For Shaurab, he and his siblings just want to be able to support their mom, the way their parents have supported them right from the start. The family has started a website and a Facebook page to see if they can reach other people, since there has been no luck within the family.

“With the videos [of our mom], and the posters, it’s been a roller coaster of ups and downs,” says Shaurab, who adds some people will say they want to donate a kidney, but then change their mind. Shaurab says they have also received a variety of threats – some against their lives – with callers telling them to ‘wait their turn’ for a donor.

In the meantime, Poonam is doing her best to soak up the happiness New West parks bring to her when they visit. She seems to have quite the affinity for Queen’s and Tipperary; as she talks about the latter, her eyes light up. “Oh, it’s nice gardens here. We come here to take pictures for the cherry blossoms! It’s so beautiful, very beautiful.” Poonam and her family say one of their dreams is to find a home in the neighbourhood to move to.

“All season we come here to see it, it’s very nice. The people here are very nice. We look around this neighbourhood, with my kids and my husband. I like this place because it’s quiet. I feel like [it’s a] close neighbourhood,” says Poonam. 

Apart from connecting with the public to find a donor, the Hamal family would also love to hear the stories of those who either received a kidney, or were a donor. 

“We just want to know what people went through, what it was like. And maybe they can be a friend to my mom,” says Shaurab.