Karsten Weathersby isn’t letting years of dialysis and one failed kidney transplant keep him from his goal of working with digital communications.

The 30-year-old Auburn resident this spring received the $2,000 Anne Henkle Rehabilitation Scholarship from Northwest Kidney Centers and is now studying digital media production at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Tukwila.

He hopes to set a good example for others to follow.

“This is a chance for me to accomplish a major goal in my life, even after everything that I have been through,” he said. “I believe this will help me to be a role model to others going through difficulties in their lives. Along with being successful in business I want to be successful in doing my part to help people in our community.”

Weathersby, who started dialysis at Northwest Kidney Centers in 2002, received a second kidney transplant in December 2009 and is doing well. He doesn’t look back on the e-coli infection he contracted at age 15, something that possibly caused his kidneys to fail seven years later. Instead, he’s staying busy in school and pushing toward achieving his goals.

Northwest Kidney Centers, established in 1962 as the world’s first out-of-hospital dialysis facility, is a model for saving and sustaining the lives of people with chronic kidney disease, focusing on improving the quality of patients’ lives.

A not-for-profit organization, Northwest Kidney Centers provides personalized care for patients in the Puget Sound region. The organization is the central community resource for kidney disease prevention, treatment and education.

For more information, go to www.nwkidney.org.