Community Corner

PKD Walk Held in Bedford Hills

The annual Hudson Valley Walk for PKD was held on Saturday morning in Bedford Hills, an occasion to raise awareness of polycystic kidney disease.

Turnout was at least 100, according to Darien DaCosta, an event coordinator and Suffern resident. 

DaCosta described PKD as an illness that affects a lot of people but that not a lot of people know about. He was unaware of PKD until his wife, Josie, got it in 2008. The following year she got a kidney transplant.

PKD is a common genetic disease and affects both children and adults, according to the group's website. However, it notes that there is no cure available. 

The Bedford Hills walk began in 2004 and was supported by Heidi Camberari, who grew up in Bedford Hills and now lives in Somers. Saturday's walk was a unique Camberari family occasion. Her father, Wayne Grossman, met a cousin named Renee Fishback that he did not know, according to her mother, Sandy Grossman. 

"We're very, very psyched," she said. The cousin is Renee Fishback and she lives in Armonk. The unexpected gathering happened due to her seeing a newspaper story about the event, Sandy Grossman explained. 

The walk began and ended in Bedford Hills Memorial Park, with the course going through a residential area.


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