Joshua Surovey visits with Renee Bruens in the hospital, shortly after she had donated one of her kidneys to him. He had lost more than 100 lbs. to make himself medically eligible for the transplant, and then tirelessly advertised for a donor around his home town of Clarksville before Renee saw and responded to one of his appeals. The transplant occurred in April. Photo by Anne Rayner
Tears were rolling down Joshua Surovey’s cheeks. He had awakened not long ago from kidney transplant surgery and was in some pain, but these were tears of joy and gratitude. When Renee Bruens saw his tears, hers began to flow, too.
She had one question, and it was one of the most important of her life: was her kidney functioning in his body?
Yes, it was.
A year ago, they had been complete strangers. Now, surrounded by friends and family on the seventh floor of Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital’s Critical Care Tower, Joshua and Renee shed tears of joy at the successful transplant, at the new start it provided Joshua, and at the unlikely series of events that had brought them to this day.
A year ago, they had been complete strangers. Now, surrounded by friends and family on the seventh floor of Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital’s Critical Care Tower, Joshua and Renee shed tears of joy at the successful transplant, at the new start it provided Joshua, and at the unlikely series of events that had brought them to this day.
“I’m incredibly grateful to Renee,” he said. “I’ve never met anyone so compassionate, kind and completely selfless to give a kidney to a complete stranger. She’s the most compassionate person I’ve ever met. With everything she’s gone through, I can’t be more thankful. She made the choice to save my life. ”
This joyful day of transplant was the end of a long journey.
In 2012, Joshua was 24 years old, had graduated from the Nashville Art Institute with a degree in interactive media design and was ready to get on with the next chapter in his life.
He was overweight at 365 pounds and was experiencing some health problems, but nothing prepared him for the diagnosis he received: high blood pressure had led to kidney failure.
He immediately began dialysis treatments for 12 hours each night, something he’d continued to do for six years.
“It was depressing being that young and knowing you have to be hooked to a machine to survive,” Joshua said. “It was a terrifying time and very dark.”
While dialysis was a stopgap solution, Joshua’s weight made him medically ineligible for a kidney transplant — which, as he thought about it, meant his problem had a two-step solution: 1: lose weight; 2: find a donor.
While dialysis was a stopgap solution, Joshua’s weight made him medically ineligible for a kidney transplant — which, as he thought about it, meant his problem had a two-step solution: 1. lose weight; 2. find a donor.
He got to work.
He began working out six days a week at a local gym with his friend Matt, changed his diet, and turned to his faith to help him with the struggle he knew was ahead of him.
“God and my faith have been my stepping stone through this. Without him I know I’d already be dead,” Joshua said. “There’s a peace with me now that God has heard my prayer and sees me and will be with me and ride this out with me until the end.”
After a year, he’d shed 100 pounds, which meant he was medically qualified for the transplant list.
And he didn’t stop there. He kept working out and eating a good diet, and lost a total of 206 pounds.
It was time for step two — find a donor.
Kidneys can be matched from organ donors who have died but, because everybody has two kidneys and can live with only one, a finding a living donor whose kidney is a match also works.
“I didn’t have time to wait,” Joshua said. “I needed to find a kidney donor, a living donor.”
So, with the same determination he brought to his weight-loss program, in 2016, he took to the streets of his hometown, Clarksville, and stood on busy thoroughfares holding a sign that said “Kidney Donor Needed. Blood Type O. A New Kidney for Joshua Facebook Page.”
He got lots of honks, waves, thumbs up, and visits to his Facebook page — but no donor, at least not at first.
He rented a billboard, put decals on his car and handed out business cards with the same information.
Dozens of well-meaning people filled his Facebook message box, but none came to fruition as a perfect match. Some did not match due to health issues, others decided not to proceed once they found out more about what was involved.
“You get let down,” Joshua said, remembering that time. He spent time talking to his mother, Lynn, about everything he was doing, and how progress seemed so slow. “You start to think it’s not going to happen and you just become numb.”
Then in spring 2017, Renee Bruens saw his sign.
She was walking into the gym, the same one where Joshua works out, when the decal on his car caught her eye.
“It looked interesting. I went and worked out,” Renee recalled. At the gym, she kept thinking about the information about Joshua needing a kidney. “I took a picture of the car when I was leaving and it was weighing heavy on me.”
Renee followed Joshua’s Facebook page and read about his journey. As the married mother of two children, Renee, 33, already had a complicated enough life, but a couple of weeks passed, and she was still thinking about this stranger who needed a kidney. The feeling that she needed to help became overwhelming. She already knew her blood type was a match, and she felt compelled to be tested to see if she was a match.
“It weighed heavy on my heart before I decided to do it,” she said. “I just felt like if I could help out, and I’m able to do it, then it seemed like the right thing to do. So I did it.”
Renee contacted Joshua for the first time on April 5, 2017, to let him know she was going through the process to see if she could be his donor.
Joshua was glad, of course, but had seen too many other promising replies not work out to get his hopes up much. He sent Renee a standard thank you reply and waited to see if this potential donor was any different.
Turns out, she was. In fact, as he tells the story now, it was the beginning of his miracle.
Renee progressed through the kidney donor process and soon they met face to face.
Neither was what the other expected.
She was not expecting his thick long beard. And he had seen a photograph of somebody that he erroneously thought was Renee, so when he met the real person, he was momentarily confused. They laugh at the awkward, first hello now, but inspired by each other’s hearts and motivated by each other’s compassion, the two became instant friends, talking and laughing as if they’d known each other for years.
She was not expecting his thick long beard. And he had seen a photograph of somebody that he erroneously thought was Renee, so when he met the real person, he was momentarily confused.
They laugh at the awkward, first hello now, but inspired by each other’s hearts and motivated by each other’s compassion, the two became instant friends, talking and laughing as if they’d known each other for years.
It was her warm smile, big laugh and kind disposition that continued to reassure Joshua that he had found his donor and, as an unexpected bonus, a friend.
Renee was called in for further testing at Vanderbilt in January 2018, and learned she was a perfect match.
“I just kept thinking if I’m a match it was meant to be, and if it comes back and I’m healthy it was meant to be,” she said.
“He’s got a great story and he’s been through so much and come through so much. He’s such a strong person. My prayer is for him to wake up without that pain.”
Exactly a year later to the date that Renee responded to Joshua’s plea for a donor, on April 5, 2018, the two were wheeled into a Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital operating room where Renee’s left kidney was removed from her body and transplanted into Joshua’s, ending his six years of kidney failure and need for dialysis.
The surgery happened to also coincide with the annual Donate Life Day at Vanderbilt. Sometimes, it seems like the universe just synchronizes.
Josh said he hopes his journey inspires others who may be in kidney failure to not give up and to keep fighting for better health.
“You have to put one foot in front of the other if you are going through this process,” he said. “Do what you need to do to live. Do whatever it takes. Focus on what you need to do. Do a small task at a time. If you want to live and it’s a desire there, do whatever it takes.
“A brighter future is around the corner and I’m so grateful for Renee. I truly love her like my sister and I’ve always wanted a sister.”
“A brighter future is around the corner and I’m so grateful for Renee. I truly love her like my sister and I’ve always wanted a sister.”
Renee has big plans for Joshua too. One is for him to become “approachable.”
“When we first met, I didn’t want to approach him because of his beard,” Renee said, laughing. “After the surgery, he’s agreed to shave it so we can find him a wife and they can have babies.”
Spoken like a sister, for sure.
For his part, Joshua says that when all that happens — he trims his beard, gets married and has a child — if the baby is a girl, he has her name picked out: Aubry Lynn Renee.
Lynn, for his mother, who stood by his side, being strong and holding his hand each hard step of the way.
And Renee after his miracle, his friend, his living donor.
Photo by Anne Rayner
