This week, Brett Epps received that gift of life from his now-fiancée, Alixandra Cirigliano, thanks to a successful kidney transplant at Carolina Medical Center in North Carolina, USA Today reported Friday.
Brett Epps and fiance Alix Cirigliano before their successful kidney transplant operation (Photo/Epps family)The 28-year-old Epps was diagnosed in October 2014 with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a rare disease characterized by scarring in the part of the kidney that filters blood.
The winningest wrestler in Rutgers Prep school history had been searching for a kidney for more than 18 months, learning in April that Cirigliano had a kidney that would work for him. Surgery had been scheduled for June 1 -- the day Epps proposed to Cirigliano in his hospital room -- was postponed hours because Epps' blood pressure spiked perilously high.
No such issues on the second attempt on Wednesday when the transplant was successful.
"The kidney took immediately and worked superbly, and it's still working superbly," Kurt Epps said. "After the doctor came in and he said everything was OK, I got up and gave him a big hug and then I left the room and I went into the bathroom to be by myself to let out two years of frustration."
In fact, Brett Epps was sitting up the next day, and was expected to be up and walking by the end of this week.
According to the Living Kidney Donor Network, approximately 5,000 of the more than 93,000 people waiting for a kidney transplant in the United States will die annually (survival rates are significantly greater for transplants from living donors than cadavers), as the life expectancy of a middle-aged man on dialysis does not exceed eight years.
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