Jackson State University student Tiranda Plummer is marching to the beat of hope as she awaits a match for a kidney transplant.
Plummer is a straight-A biology and pre-med student and member of the HBCU’s storied Sonic Boom of the South marching band. Since contracting COVID-19 in January, dialysis treatments she’s receiving in Georgia have disrupted Plummer’s everyday campus life.
When she was only nine years old, Plummer was diagnosed with kidney disease. A kidney transplant she received from her stepmother at age 11 had sustained her for years, but then COVID-19 damaged that kidney too. Roughly 15 percent of adults in the US suffer from chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and some researchers anticipate a rise in CKD due to the pandemic.
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“At that point, I was like, ‘Okay, please let me see my 21st birthday,” the saxophonist recently told Inside Edition. Plummer is looking for a kidney donor with an O-positive blood type.
“This process is not a short one, it’s hard finding that match…I hope that by the end of this year, I can say that I successfully had a kidney transplant and I am able to finish my degree at Jackson State University.”
Plummer’s campus community is behind her. Earlier this month, the band’s official Instagram page amplified her search with the hashtag #KidneyforPeaches.
“We have a large following, The Sonic Boom of the South, in regard to our social media. So we’re doing all our due diligence and making sure we get the word out,” Dr. Roderick Little, director of bands at Jackson State told WLBT. On Inside Edition, Little also reflected on his experiences with Plummer.
“Tiranda’s personality is just second to none. I mean, she is definitely a ray of sunshine like none other…When you see a student like that, you don’t want any hurt or harm or anything negative to come towards that individual because they’re so positive.”
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Plummer also spoke to WAPT 16 about what her search and recovery away from campus has been like. “I miss my friends tremendously. I have friends that call me literally every morning saying ‘Hey, I miss you.’, ‘Hey Peaches, I hope you’re doing good,” and said she’ll be “jumping for joy” when the right call comes. Upon finishing her Bachelor’s degree, Plummer plans to go to medical school and become a pediatric nephrologist so that she can help people with kidney issues.
If you have a lead for Plummer, WLBT reports that she can be contacted by the following:
Instagram: tirandamikole
Twitter: @ tirandamikole
Email: tirandap@gmail.com
www.augustahealth.org /kidney-and-pancreas-transplant/
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