Oula Khalifa, left, her brother Moustafa, second from left and their mother, Fetoun Ghazalaswad, and father, Oussama, walked together for the first time in the Pittsburgh Kidney Walk in November. Oula received a kidney from Moustafa in 2018.

CRANBERRY TWP — Oula Khalifa likes to travel. She works for Target, has three siblings and loves being with friends.

But until Dec. 28, 2018, Oula didn't have the energy to enjoy any of those things.

“In the last few years, it got really bad,” Oula said. “I could sleep 10 hours (a day), but I was exhausted.”

Oula, who is 29, developed a post-strep autoimmune infection when she was about 13 that eventually caused a chronic kidney disease.

Oula's illness did not hurt just her.

Her family felt the effects of the disease during the years she dealt with it.

Her mother, Fetoun, gave Oula dialysis treatments at home.

Her brother, Moustafa, gave Oula a kidney.

This is an excerpt, read Oula and Moustafa's story in Tuesday's Butler Eagle