Donor family serendipitously hires donee

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - No one loved Brandon more than his mother, Gail Bowden.

"He was one of the happiest people anyone would meet. Everyone who met him loved him," she said.

His sunny outlook was an inspiration, despite 17 years of challenges with spina bifida. One day Gail got a call from school, a call that didn't seem that unusual at the time. Her son was sick.

She recalled, "Brandon was just sicker than we knew. He stopped breathing at home on a Sunday."

Emergency crews rushed Brandon to the hospital. The doctor's he had seen his whole life now worked to save it, but couldn't.

"And then he passed. It was very peaceful; it was quiet. I tell people he went back to heaven with as much love as they sent him here," wept Gail. "Brandon died February 12, 2008."

Ken Kittenger remembers the call he had been waiting four years to get.

"ECMC told me to be there February 13th, 2008. I was a young tough guy and it'll knock you down and that's what it did," he recounted.

A strong, hard working man, Ken had no time to notice the subtle signs of high blood pressure. ut his body wouldn't be ignored.

"Finally I had to go to the hospital. I went to Mercy Hospital and woke up three days later in ICU, chronic kidney failure," he said.

The doctors told him he would live, but it would be a very different life than he had planned at 38.

Ken said, "Then there's dialysis, which is putting it nicely as you can. It's a miserable existence and that's what happened to me. I had to endure it for four years. Then I was called for a transplant."

After the pain if surgery passed, Ken got his life back. But he knew the cost.

"I just felt great! Wonderful! The part that I struggle with is my gain was someone else's(pause) loss," Ken said.

As the years went on, Gail worked to move past the pain of losing her son.

"I still have difficult days when I think about him and cry or I think about him and smile," she said.

Gail decided to paint her house with Brandon's favorite color, yellow, and hired someone to help.

Gail recalled, "He shows up and says, "Hi my name is Ken. I'm here to paint.""

The pair of strangers set on a safe course of small talk that took them to family.

"She told me about Brandon and that he'd passed away when he was 17. I said, 'I know what it's like to be sick. I was on dialysis for four years for high blood pressure. It was brutal, but I just celebrated my four-year anniversary of a kidney transplant,' recalled Ken.

Gail asked Ken when the anniversary of his transplant was, and he told her February. When they realized the date of her son's death and the date of his transplant were only a day apart, something clicked.

Gail recounted, "It was an out of body surreal moment because this just can't be happening. All of a sudden he says, 'You said you wrote letters to the families. Your letter starts out, "Hi, my name is Gail, my son's name was Brandon."' So I immediately start crying."

Then she made a call to UNYTS and her son's donor coordinator.

"She says, 'His name is Ken Kittenger.' I said, 'He has Brendan's kidney!' And I almost drop the phone. And he says, 'It's me isn't it?' And we both started crying and we hugged," Gail said.

Ken added, "Took a few minutes to confirm what I already knew. This is my donor family. I am amazed by it. It's just unbelievable."

"It was just amazing and it continues to be. When I tell people this story, I tell them it's a "hand of God" story," explained Gail.

Ken said he struggled for years trying to find a way to say "thank you" to his donor family for saving his life. And now, he has.

Ken isn't the only one Gail and Brendan helped. His donation saved or improved the lives of 50 different people. We invite you to find out how you can make a difference, too.