Executive Chef at Schilleci's New Orleans Kitchen in The Woodlands Receives a Second Chance at Life

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- Six months ago, David Brittain, Executive Chef at
Schilleci's New Orleans Kitchen in The Woodlands, recieved a second chance at life. David, 44, was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease when he was just 27 years old, a condition in which clusters of painful cysts develop primarily within the kidneys.

As the disease progressed, the cysts became so enlarged that they slowly killed his kidney function. He went into kidney failure in September of last year and by the time his kidneys were removed, they collectively weighed 40 pounds. For reference, an average kidney weighs less than a pound. At this point, David had neither of kidneys and was put on dialysis.

“We weren't even sure if he would survive in order to receive a transplant,” said David’s wife Heather Brittain. The couple has been married for 20 years and share one son together. Out of love and determination, Heather was the first person to test to see if she was a donor match.

“I would always say, 'I'm going to be your match, I'm going to be your match one day,'” she recalled. “And we kind of laughed about it, but then when it came time to do the testing, I just felt it so strongly. I just knew,” she said.

Her intuition proved true. The nurses at Houston Methodist called Heather to tell her that she was indeed a match, and they were able to proceed with the surgery.

“I just think that it was always meant to be,” Heather said. “I feel like it was written in the heavens before we even got here … we have an 18-year-old son, and for a majority of his life his dad has been sick to some extent … I feel like not only did David receive the gift of life, but so did our son, and so did I,” she said.

David commented that when he was on dialysis he slept every other day, all day, for many hours. “And before the surgery I had 40 pounds sitting on top of me,' he recalled. 'I couldn’t breathe like that, but now I'm doing normal stuff again ... if it wasn't for Heather, and modern medicine, I'd have been dead a long time ago … it means a lot to me to be able to see my son, and future grandkids, and all of it.” he said.

Through sharing their personal story, the couple hopes to inspire others to become kidney donors themselves. Heather’s personal goal is to let people know that donating a kidney is not as scary or debilitating as it may seem.

“I don't feel like I gave up a kidney,” she said. “I have my energy, I'm doing everything I did before,” she continued. “If you come across someone you know who needs a kidney, go get tested, go save someone's life, because it was one day, two hours of my life, and I was driving and grocery shopping a week later,” she said. “That one little tiny kidney has changed all of our lives.”

Be the change in someone else’s life. For information on living donor kidney transplants, click here.

Click here to donate to Chef David Brittain's medical fund. Due to ongoing medical costs that insurance doesn’t cover, as well as the cost of anti-rejection drugs, any amount is very appreciated.