
Mariah as a young girl talks about karate, and living an active life. Mariah’s parents Angie and Dave talk about what is required to support Mariah in living with her condition. A medical practitioner tells us that after a transplant, the body always recognises the foreign kidney and that immune suppressants are required to be taken by the patient every day so that the body does not reject the transplanted kidney. Summary by Romaine Moreton.
The bravery of the family who, with Mariah, must live with kidney disease every day, is unmistakable. The love and dedication of Mariah’s parents in supporting their daughter is imperative to the young girl’s well-being, and as the doctor tells us, a kidney transplant is a treatment rather than a cure.
A moving documentary about Indigenous women living with kidney disease.
The prevalence of kidney disease is overwhelming in Indigenous communities, with Darwin having an incidence ten times higher than anywhere else in the country, with 80 per cent of that number being Aboriginal. It is difficult to watch the impact of renal disease on Mariah, who has lived with it since she was a baby, as well as elder and activist Essie Coffey OAM, who in her final years lived with renal disease. The title Big Girls Don’t Cry comes from an affirmation Essie Coffey’s family uses in the film. Essie Coffey eventually succumbed to a common cold, her immune system so weak she could not fight it off.
This is a very moving film, and the strength of women – Essie Coffey of the Muruwari clan, Mariah Swan of the Kamilaroi clan, Glenda Kerinaiau of the Tiwi clan – who lived with, and continue to live with, renal disease touches your heart.
Notes by Romaine Moreton
This clip shows Mariah nine years after receiving a donor kidney. The clip opens with an image of the newspaper article that told of 'Mariah’s second chance’. A dissolve reveals 10-year-old Mariah talking with her mother about her karate trophies and then playing ball with her family. Her father is shown taking her to the hospital for a regular check-up. A doctor, in interview, explains why Mariah must take special drugs throughout her life. Angie, Mariah’s mother, speaks of her gratitude for the transplant and, with some distress, of how she blamed herself for Mariah’s disease.
Education notes provided by The Learning Federation and Education Services Australia
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.