{"id":836265,"date":"2026-06-01T06:48:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T06:48:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/836265\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T06:48:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T06:48:29","slug":"kidney-disease-survivor-finds-hope-through-ministering-brother-church-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/836265\/","title":{"rendered":"Kidney disease survivor finds hope through ministering brother \u2013 Church News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brad Bywater sat in a wheelchair at his daughter\u2019s high school May 2023 graduation, unable to stand and hardly able to cheer.<\/p>\n

He first felt cold, then a metallic taste in his mouth, nausea in his stomach and an intense lack of physical and mental energy. Around him, parents rose to their feet as names were called. Bywater watched from his wheelchair as his daughter crossed the stage.<\/p>\n

Bywater, a husband, father, optometrist and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from San Tan Valley, Arizona, has lived his entire life with polycystic kidney disease \u2014 an inherited condition that causes cysts to proliferate throughout the kidneys until they fail. <\/p>\n

In January 2023, Bywater\u2019s kidneys slipped into renal failure. By his daughter\u2019s spring graduation, walking to the kitchen left him out of breath.<\/p>\n

Bywater knew decline was inevitable with his condition, but he never expected debilitating pain so soon: \u201cI kind of put it in the back of my mind,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cWhen I finally started feeling bad, that\u2019s when I started worrying about it. That\u2019s when it became a constant worry.\u201d <\/p>\n

The most dreaded moments were spontaneous cyst ruptures \u2014 a cyst would burst and bleed internally, leaving Bywater in pain for weeks. <\/p>\n

\"\"From left to right, Candee Runkel, Chris Runkel, Angela Bywater and Brad Bywater sit and reminisce on Chris’ kidney donation to Brad in the Bywater’s home in San Tan Valley, Arizona, April 13, 2026. | Leah Bowers <\/p>\n

In March of that same year, Bywater and his wife, Angela, received a phone call from Brad\u2019s nephrologist. \u201c\u2018Hey, I need you to come in as soon as possible \u2026 we need to talk,\u2019\u201d Brad Bywater recalled being told. <\/p>\n

Bywater\u2019s kidney function rate had plummeted below 20, the threshold for avoiding a kidney transplant. That day, the Bywaters spoke with the doctor about being put on the transplant list, one that usually takes five years to rise to the top. <\/p>\n

While waiting to be tested and put on the list, Bywater began peritoneal dialysis. It required him to be home by 7:30 p.m. each night to be properly tethered as he slept to a machine filtering toxins through a cavity inside the abdomen. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt put a damper on date night,\u201d he recalled, chuckling. <\/p>\n

Five months later, Bywater was officially listed on Mayo Clinic\u2019s national kidney transplant wait list. The family made a single Facebook post asking people to consider getting tested as potential donors, including a link to sign up at the bottom of the post. <\/p>\n

Bywater\u2019s eyes welled with tears as he and his wife saw an overwhelmingly large response. <\/p>\n

\u201cI did not realize how loved I was,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Bywater was stunned to see dozens of people, even acquaintances from high school he hadn\u2019t spoken to in years, messaging him saying they had signed up. <\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to make a list of all the people who signed up, and I lost track around 60 people,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI was hoping for maybe five or six people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very humbling.\u201d <\/p>\n

One of his Facebook friends who saw the post was Chris Runkel, the Bywaters\u2019 assigned ministering brother at the time. Even though the two did not know each other deeply, \u201cI kept getting that feeling to get tested,\u201d Runkel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, \u2018That\u2019s crazy\u2026 I like my organs,\u201d he remembered thinking. <\/p>\n

Runkel dismissed the thought, yet told his wife, Candee, about his experience. He told her he felt he should be tested to see if he could be a potential match as a kidney donor for Brad.<\/p>\n

Candee Runkel received her own spiritual confirmation, not in a quiet room or in a moment of prayer, but at a stoplight. <\/p>\n

She remembered pumping the brakes at a stoplight. In a moment, she felt a wave hit, starting at her head, rushing down to her feet. She just knew, with an undeniable certainty, that her husband was meant to move forward in the transplant process. <\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Everything is going to be perfectly OK,\u2019\u201d Candee Runkel recalled hearing. <\/p>\n

The two decided to go through Mayo Clinic\u2019s testing \u2014 a long, rigorous process to ensure the donor\u2019s blood type, health and other factors would be compatible with the recipient. <\/p>\n

Going through the tests, Chris Runkel felt he was going to be a match. \u201cI just had this feeling,\u201d he said. \u201cI felt like it was predestined to happen.\u201d <\/p>\n

When the news came that he was an acceptable match and that the kidney transfer would soon take place, the Runkels rushed to tell the Bywaters. <\/p>\n

On a sunny, Arizona June day, Candee Runkel called Angela Bywater. \u201cI just broke down,\u201d Bywater said. \u201cWhen she called me, I was just overcome with gratitude. How do you thank someone for that kind of sacrifice?\u201d <\/p>\n

In tears, she grabbed the phone to call her husband. Brad Bywater was at work, in between optometry patients, when he received the call. He took a few moments to compose himself before continuing his work, filled with surprise, excitement and overall gratitude. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was only on dialysis for four months \u2014 most people are on it for years, said Bywater, saying that expressing gratitude \u2014 both the times and ways \u2014 seemed insufficient.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the same way I feel about my Savior and what He has done for me,\u201d Bywater said. \u201cThat\u2019s why I am so grateful to have gone through this experience, because it\u2019s given me such an appreciation of what He has done for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Chris has done for me and the gratitude I feel for him has opened my heart more to allow the love of the Savior in even more than I thought was possible.\u201d <\/p>\n

On the day of the surgery, the Bywaters nervously checked into the front office. As they began to head to the elevator, a young person played on a public piano the song \u201cNearer, My God, to Thee.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just felt peace,\u201d Brad Bywater recalled. <\/p>\n

\"\"Brad Bywater stands up and begins to walk just after receiving a kidney transplant from his ministering brother on September 26, 2023 in the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. | Brad Bywater \"\"Chris Runkel takes a post-operation stroll through the halls of in the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona on September 26, 2023, just after donating his kidney. | Brad Bywater <\/p>\n

As they entered the elevator, pushed the button and rose to their destination, the elevator doors opened, and Candee Runkel was standing there ready to greet them. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as we saw her, I felt the Spirit so strongly,\u201d recalled Brad Bywater.<\/p>\n

On that day, Sept. 26, 2023, Runkel did something few ministering brothers do \u2014 he gifted the kidney.<\/p>\n

Though Chris and Candee Runkel are no longer assigned to minister to Brad and Angela Bywater, a deep friendship remains intact \u2013 one built on service and gratitude. The two families continue to minister to each other in new ways. <\/p>\n

Reflecting on the experience, Brad Bywater said. \u201cYou have no idea how much you can help someone or how much you can change someone\u2019s life. It doesn\u2019t have to be giving a kidney or an organ. It can be just being there for somebody \u2026 being willing to sacrifice, being willing to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brad Bywater sat in a wheelchair at his daughter\u2019s high school May 2023 graduation, unable to stand and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":836266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[11],"tags":[210,197993,57434,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-836265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health","tag-living-faith","tag-members","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116673521580149538","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=836265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/836266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=836265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=836265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=836265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}