Wife gives husband battling kidney disease sweet Valentine's gift

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ByWayne Freedman KGO logo
Friday, February 13, 2015
Wife gives husband battling kidney disease sweet Valentine's gift
Sarah and Jesse Brewster gave each other their hearts quite a few years ago and now, right after Valentine's Day, Sarah is also giving her ailing husband one of her kidneys.

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (KGO) -- A Bay Area musician is about to get a sweet gift for Valentine's Day.

Jesse Brewster has been dealing with a kidney illness for 20 years and he's about to get some help from an unexpected source.

When asked if she was worried about how to take care of the one she loves, Sarah Brewster responded, "I know what I'm getting mine for Valentine's Day."

Does she ever.

Sarah and Jesse pledged "for better or for worse" quite a few years ago.

ABC7 News/ Wayne Freedman

Next week, right after Valentine's Day, they will take it to extremes. She is giving him one of her kidneys.

"I just feel we were meant to be in each other's lives and this is another way that's showing up," Sarah said.

The professional singer and songwriter, husband and father of two faces a life-threatening crisis -- polycystic kidney disease.

Polycystic kidney disease is the second most common inherited ailment in the world. If your parents have it, you stand a 50/50 chance of getting it, too.

Jesse's father had it and his brother died from it.

"I probably would have started dialysis later this year," Jesse said.

Instead, Sarah will take six weeks off from work to donate her kidney.

Their daughter, Isla, will get a crash course on anatomy. "We're going to tell her Daddy hasn't been feeling that well and Mommy has an opportunity to make him feel better," Sarah said.

And in this family, Valentine's Day will never be the same.

Sarah and Jesse already shared a house, a marriage and children. "First she gave me her heart. Now she's giving me a kidney," Jesse added.