“I still kind of don’t believe it,” said Brie Bauer, who has been on dialysis four times a week for two years due to kidney failure
Credit: KCTV5 News/Youtube
NEED TO KNOW
- Brie Bauer, a mom of three who lost all four limbs due to complications from sepsis, found a perfect kidney donor match
- The Kansas mother has been on dialysis four times a week for two years due to kidney failure related to her condition,
- “I still kind of don’t believe it,” Bauer said about the match
A Kansas mom who lost all four limbs after complications from sepsis has just received life-changing news: She has a perfect kidney donor match.
Brie Bauer of Kansas City was 35 years old and pregnant with her third child in February 2024 when she went to the doctor with flu-like symptoms, per a GoFundMe established at the time. It was soon determined that Brie needed an emergency C-section. The procedure did not go as planned.
Bauer began experiencing organ failure, and she was ultimately diagnosed with sepsis, a life-threatening condition that causes the body to attack healthy tissue and organs, per the Cleveland Clinic.
She soon needed to have four limbs amputated in order to save her life.
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The former nurse eventually returned home, but her health challenges were far from over. She has spent the past two years on dialysis multiple times a week due to kidney failure related to her condition.
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“It often means I spend less time with my little kids due to treatments four times a week,” Bauer, who is now an advocate for sepsis awareness and limb loss, wrote in a January Instagram post.
In late February, Bauer received the news she had been hoping for since 2024: She had a kidney donor match.
“I have words I have been waiting a long time to say. I FOUND A KIDNEY MATCH,” Bauer announced in a February 27 Instagram post.
“After sepsis. After losing all four limbs. After surgeries and setbacks. After the long process of becoming transplant eligible. There is a match,” she continued.
“To every single person who called. Who filled out paperwork. Who went through testing. Who sat in appointments. Who prayed. Who shared my story. Thank you will never feel big enough,” Bauer added.
Bauer admitted that she has yet to fully process the life-changing news.
“It took a couple of days, really, to understand how it’s a perfect match. I still kind of don’t believe it,” she said while recently speaking to KCTV.
Bauer also said that while she remains cautiously optimistic, she knows there is still a long road ahead and no guarantees.
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“Knowing my history of things always going the wrong way, I don’t think I’ll be truly excited until after the transplant and until I get the dialysis stuff out of my house. That’s when I’ll know that we’re good,” she added.
Still, Bauer, who has founded Brie’s Hope, a nonprofit dedicated to sepsis awareness, early detection and support for those navigating life after limb loss, said she refuses to let her condition define her.
“I know I’m not going to be growing back arms or legs. It is what it is,” she told KCTV. “I’m not going to let this situation stop me from what I want to do in my life.”
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