Whittlesea’s Brooks family fight kidney disease with Epping quiz night

Whittlesea’s Brooks family have been dealt devastating health news not once, but three times. Now the family are fighting back. Here’s how you can help them discover the cause of a cruel genetic disease.

Kelly, Jacqui, Emma, Scott, Janice and George.

The diagnosis of any medical condition can have a huge impact on a family.

But when three of four siblings are diagnosed with a rare genetic kidney disease which has left medical experts stumped the impact is irrevocable.

For Whittlesea’s Brooks family this is the reality.

Kelly McMaster said when her sister Jacqui was diagnosed with kidney disease during a routine check when she was pregnant 21 years ago the family took the news in their stride.

“She was on medication and monitored,” Mrs McMaster said.

When a round of DNA testing found Mrs McMaster’s other siblings Emma and Scott also had kidney disease the family was devastated.

Scott had “rapidly declined” since the diagnosis and had been forced to undergo nightly dialysis since January, she said.

Jacqui McMaster said living with the disease and seeing her brother struggle had reinforced the importance of organ donation.

“People need to have that discussion with their family so they know that if something happens you want to be a donor,” she said.

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Mrs McMaster said doctors had equated finding the genetic cause of the family’s kidney disease to being like “randomly opening a phonebook in the hope of finding a particular number”.

Despite not having kidney disease herself, doctors had ruled out Mrs McMaster donating a kidney to her brother because they could not tell if she too would develop the disease.

“I realised I can’t give you my kidney right now, but I can give hope,” she said.

In a bid to support one another, and other families battling kidney disease, the family will hold a trivia night at Epping Memorial Hall on September 6.

All proceeds will go to Kidney Health Australia.

The family said people attending the trivia night could expect “lots of surprises” with local businesses displaying “huge generosity” in donating prizes.

The night will run from 6.30pm to 11pm.

Tickets can be pre-purchased online.