Mary Wu

Mary H. Wu is an ABC (American-Born Chinese) who was born, raised, and still lives in suburbia Westchester County, NY. She graduated with major studies in Psychology and Communications and minor in Sociology from Manhattanville Collegein Purchase, NY.

She enjoys working with people, and has an extensive professional background that includes working at a nursing home, a non-profit Medicaid agency that services children with severe medical illnesses, and presently at one of the regional sites of Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center 

Mary was born with renal agenesis, which caused chronic kidney failure and the start of dialysis at 3-years-old. Her parents, who were immigrants from China, were told that kidney transplantation was the only option to save her life. No one, including her parents, were a viable match as a living kidney donor.

At 10-years-old and as a consequence of lifetime immunosuppressant medication of the transplanted kidneys, Mary was told she had osteoarthritis and avascular necrosis of the left hip, mild scoliosis of her back, and osteopenia of the lumbar spine. It was suspected years later that the core diagnosis leading to bone problems was left hip dysplasia congenital defect, secondary to renal agenesis and chronic kidney failure. She was told that she must undergo a total left hip replacement by the time she was 18-years-old.

Mary is presently 33-year-old and a two-time kidney transplant recipient from deceased donors, receiving her first transplant at 5-years-old and then her second at 12-years-old. In Spring 2013, Mary finally underwent a total left hip replacement surgery by means of an anterior procedural approach. She sought out and is a great supporter of alternative treatments, particularly osteopathy, due to the chronic arthritic pain that was dealt with for twenty years and especially in the last two to five years. In September 2014, she also underwent anpartial hysterectomydue to a suspicious for cancer rapidly growing mass in her uterus.

As a result of her personal experiences at a young age, she has a unique perspective and interest in both the organ donation/transplant and arthritis communities. Mary is greatly involved with various organ donation/transplant organizations, The Arthritis Foundation, and female physical body awareness and issues. She focuses on counseling and supporting organ donor families, pediatric or young adult recipients/candidates and their family/friends, and transplant recipients/candidates of various ethnicities and cultures.

Primarily in the organ donation/transplant community, Mary is always working to increase education, awareness, and especially registration through eclectic and published written articles, connections with political and celebrity figures, and mass and social media outreach. She was sponsored by the Los Angeles-based kidney research organization, UKRO, as their Donate Life Float Rider at the 2012 Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California. Secondary to the organ donation/transplant community, she is active in the OB/BYN and arthritis communities.

In her free time, Mary enjoys swimming, traveling, politics/religion, writing, arts and crafts, and anything food and tea related.