Brett Bowman, from Woodhaven, Mich., was born with cystic fibrosis. Growing up he was in and out of C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor. He lost his younger brother Blake to the disease in 2015.
As Brett got older, he didn’t let it slow him down. He played baseball and football and had dreams of being a commercial pilot. Three years after graduating high school, Brett started to get worse.
“I started to have to go to work with oxygen,” he said. “I had lots of lung infections at the time. My lung function just kept dropping, even with oxygen and antibiotics.”
In 2019, after ringing in the new year, Brett’s doctors said he needed a transplant. After months of testing and going through the process, he was officially on the waiting list for a double-lung transplant in July 2019.
“I got the call on August 8 and received my transplant the next day,” said Brett. “It was the best call you could get. All I kept thinking was, I can’t wait to get my new set of lungs and be able to breathe for the first time in my life.”
Just a week after his transplant, Brett was preparing to go home, however, an unexpected complication arose—his right eye began to trouble him. While the transplant itself was a success, a highly rare and aggressive infection attacked his eyes, ultimately leading to total blindness. The infection, caused by bacteria from his original lungs, was diagnosed as panophthalmitis. To contain it, doctors had to remove his eyes.
“I didn’t want to lose my eyesight,” Brett shared. “I always had good eyes; my vision was 20/20. I had just gone through a lung transplant, and I was so thankful for that gift. Whatever I had to do to protect that gift, I was going to do.”
Once again, Brett didn’t let this slow him down. He started therapy. He learned how to use a cane and had help from his seeing eye dog named Legacy. He now also has prosthetics that look like his real eyes.
“At first I was thinking, what did I do wrong,” he said. “I just had to realize I didn’t do anything wrong. It just happened. You can sit and pout about it or you can try to live your life. I just focused on recovering from my transplant and took it one day at a time.”
Brett had planned to reach out to his donor’s family on the one-year anniversary of receiving his gift, but they beat him to it. Six months following his transplant they reached out. They met in person for the first time the following summer and have continued to stay connected through Zoom calls and in-person meetings.
“It’s been amazing to learn about Art and who he was as a person,” he said. “He saved two people’s lives thanks to his generosity.”
Because of Art’s selfless decision, Brett can breathe again. He recently graduated from Dorsey College in Dearborn as an Orthopedic Massage Therapist and is getting ready to take his state board exam. He has been able to travel, including to Hawaii on the anniversary of his transplant and has plans to visit Nairobi, Kenya on a mission trip this summer. He even got a tattoo to honor Art that says ‘because of you, I can breathe.”
Brett has also made it his mission to help others waiting for that lifesaving organ transplant. He’s joined online communities for double-lung transplant recipients and has made great friends, including Scott, a grandfather from Northern Michigan who also received his transplant around the same time. Brett and his mom often volunteer for Gift of Life Michigan.
“I’m so thankful that I’m here and for Gift of Life” he said. “If I could say anything to Art, I would tell him how appreciative I am and how selfless he was for what he did. I’m going to do whatever I can to protect the gift he gave me and live an amazing life, spreading awareness for organ donation.”
The best way to save lives is by joining the Michigan Organ Donor Registry. To join, visit golm.org/signup.
