American Idol: Scott MacIntyre talks about own disease and sister's condition

American Idol: Scott MacIntyre talks about own disease and sister's condition

Scott MacIntyre, the first visually impaired contestant of "American Idol's" and recently got eliminated, has talked about the disease that almost cost him his life.

"I say blindness is only half of my story, I've been through so much more than that," added Scott to Access Hollywood's "Dish of Salt" Laura Saltman on Friday.

He said, "I dealt with kidney failure for two years," "[It's] something that I didn't intentionally didn't bring up on this show because, you know, the blindness is obvious, but I didn't want to be voted for based on my challenges."

For a time, his battle with kidney failure stopped him to do the thing the he loved to do most.

He continued, I actually remember a time when I didn't have enough strength to even sit and sing and vocalize on the piano," "My body was so overloaded from kidney failure. It's a very draining process. It's not good and that really kind of took a year of my life."

In the year 2005 he was diagnosed with the disease. However he was hopeful of a donor that would be found. Meanwhile he had traveled to London for studying music and even received a master's degree. However with his kidney progressively worsening, Scott went back to U.S. to begin emergency dialysis.

At that time someone from outside his family stepped up to help save Scott's life.

He told Laura, "Finally in August 2007, the wife of my former piano instructor from Arizona State University donated her kidney to me, and she's doing well, and I'm doing well. It's just a miracle everyday that I'm alive now,"

When it comes to his visual impairment, Scott added that in spite the advances in technology and medicine, he was not looking for a cure.

He continued, "A lot of people ask me if there was something out there would I take the risk of trying to improve my eyesight and actually gain my sight and I don't know if I would," "I think everything happens for a reason and I think this is a blessing in disguise."

Scott also revealed that his younger sister Katelyn, who is also visually impaired, is also struggling with her own battle with kidney failure.

Regarding Katelyn’s health, Scott said, "We don't know what's going on either... it's undiagnosed," he said of Katelyn's health. "We're waiting for a lot of things to come back, [but] she does [have a donor.] It's actually been going on the whole time I've been on 'American Idol.'"

In fact, his sister's battle was something that Scott decided for keeping private while he competed on "Idol."

He continued, "I didn't' want people to know... I didn't want to bring it up" Scott explained. "If people would just pray for her that everything goes well this coming week. She has surgery coming up very soon."

Despite all the struggles in his life, Scott added that he is looking forward to the road ahead.

He remarked, "I'm actually really excited to be moving on with life after 'Idol.'" "I'm looking forward to the tour, but also I have a huge catalog of music actually that's just waiting to be released so I'm going to be working on that. I'm really excited to share that with all of my fans."