RICHMOND, Va. — Growing up, Shanaha Brown was all too familiar with the inside of the pediatric ward.
Brown, 36, was born with a rare illness, a kidney disease called APOL 1 Gene.
"I felt very, very hopeless," Brown said. "I practically lived in Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia."
The South Richmond woman managed the sickness for years, but when she caught COVID last December, her ailing kidney went from bad to worse.
“That is when I really learned when I became an adult what is going on with me,” she said.
The married mother of three spent Christmas and New Year’s in the hospital.
“My kidneys weren’t flushing the fluid like they were supposed to,” she said.
She started dialysis at home in February with her husband Daniel lending a hand.
Doctors then delivered the devastating news.
Shanaha Brown would need a transplant.
“I cried. My heart just dropped. Dialysis and transplant talk on the same day? That is a lot,” Brown said.
The patient was lining up blood relatives to get tested.
Daniel insisted that he go first.
"She needed a transplant,” Daniel Brown. ”Once they started talking about dialysis. Alright. Stage 5. This is the end."
Shanaha had her doubts because Daniel is not a blood relative.
“No harm in trying,” Shanaha Brown said. “But I didn’t think he was going to be a match.”
But it turned out her savior was living under the same roof.
“You know it is like filling out a lottery ticket hoping that I win. Next thing you know we won,” Shanaha said.
He was the perfect match, in more ways than one.
“Because I prayed to God let me be a match. Don’t let her wait three years. And he answered my prayer right there,” Daniel said.
On August 7, Daniel donated one of his kidneys to his wife of nine years.
“I was just speechless. He is so awesome. He is very awesome,” said Shanaha.
Dr. Amit Sharma said the surgery at VCU Health Hume-Lee Transplant Center was a success and both patients are recovering well.
“Kidney transplant is a life-changing event,” Dr. Sharma said. “It gives me massive amounts of satisfaction when you see someone stepping up and donating part of their body.”
The surgeon said Shanaha will no longer need dialysis.
Dr. Sharma called Daniel’s actions nothing short of heroic.
“I don’t know if there is a scale for bravery but I would say he is at the top of that list,” Dr. Sharma said.
Just a few days before the surgery, the husband and wife were already making long-term plans with the family.
“I will be able to go back to semi-normal,” Shanaha said. “I’m going to be a brand new woman.”
”We can get back to doing what we do best, loving each other. Being here for each other,” Daniel said.
Shanaha said she can never repay her courageous husband.
”August 7 to me is a second wedding. Because it’s giving me new life and new commitment,” Shanaha said.
For Daniel Brown, the vows through thick and thin and good times and bad are promises he takes seriously.
“I can’t even think of the words to say. It was just unbelievable. It’s from me, her husband. And that is what made it a plus,” Daniel said. “If you give a little. You receive a lot.”
Both Daniel and Shanaha have been released from the hospital and are resting at home.
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