Blind at age 6.

Struck by a car on Kansas University’s Jayhawk Boulevard at age 20.

Diagnosed with kidney disease at 21.

Life has thrown many obstacles in Rachel Magario’s path. But the Kansas University student has one saving grace: family and friends who come to her aid.

“People have helped me in so many ways,” Magario said.

And they are continuing. The Web site www.rachelsmission.org has been set up to aid the young woman. And friends are planning a garage sale Saturday to raise funds for Magario, who struggles to pay her medical bills.

“She has had to deal with the difficulties that come with being an international student, being blind and also having medical complications,” friend Lydia Leon said. “She is really a person who has overcome all of those things in a really graceful manner.”

The Brazil native came to KU as a student in 1997. The following spring, she was struck by a car while crossing Jayhawk Boulevard. She was later diagnosed with glomerulosclerosis, a kidney disease.

Rachel Magario, a Kansas University student who has been blind since she was 6 and who recently had a kidney transplant, says she now has a great outlook on life through the many trials and tribulations of the past.

Magario said she believes the accident caused the kidney problem, though a former physician declined to say that was the case, and the insurance company that settled some of the costs from the car accident did not pay for the kidney problem.

Magario struggled for years. First with anger toward the young girl who struck her. Then with the pain of her condition.

“It was almost like somebody swept the rug from beneath my feet,” she said.

When her kidneys failed, Magario went on dialysis. She took three trips a week to the hospital for the procedure. It left her drained of energy and spirit.

“I couldn’t see the future,” she recalled. “I couldn’t see things improving.”

She eventually switched to home dialysis, a move that gave her more freedom. But late last year, infection forced Magario to forego that. She resorted to using catheters in her legs, which required frequent trips to the hospital.

The condition moved Magario to the top of the transplant list, and in December she received a new kidney.

“She managed to keep plugging away and never did give up,” said Joe Potts, director of KU’s International Student and Scholar Services, whose office has assisted Magario.

Magario said she has more energy and can concentrate better.

“Overall, life is just more wonderful,” she said.

Magario plans to stay in the U.S. She married Sergio Guerra, a KU doctoral student who stood by her through the illness.

She sees a bright future. But, for now, she also sees mounting medical bills. Medical costs for last year total more than $90,000, she said. And she pays for medications and health insurance.

“We really want to give her the opportunity to heal and not have to worry about her economic situation,” Leon said. “And also the opportunity to continue and work toward her dreams.”