Meet the Gilbreaths

I am so excited to introduce you to the Gilbreaths from Bonham. I know you will fall in love with this sweet family like we have.

Dad Chris is a Sherman firefighter, and Mom Amanda works for a veterans hospital. Watch out, because their 3-year-old son John will steal your heart with his adorable grin.

We met the Gilbreath family for the same reason we meet most of our families - because their child needs specialty pediatric care. Children's is a pediatric Trauma Level I hospital, the only one in the southwest. Children's also boasts a nationally recognized cancer program, Heart Center and transplant program, among more than 50 other pediatric specialties. So, most of the families we meet come to Children's because they need the best docs around to fight some of the scariest pediatric illnesses. The Gilbreaths fit that bill.

John was born with kidneys that didn't work well. In fact, they were doing more harm than good, so he's now living without either one of his diseased kidneys. On Monday, John will receive a lifechanging gift of a kidney transplant from his dad. But, don't let Chris hear you call him a hero - I mean, this guy's a firefighter, saving lives is all in a day's work! (And he's incredibly modest like that, which only makes you like him more!)

The family has been so gracious with their story. They're eager to share their experience if it helps raise awareness for organ donation. They've even agreed to allow us to Twitter from the operating rooms.

Representatives from the public relations departments at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children's will feed you real-time updates on Chris's and John's surgeries on the Children's Twitter page, starting at 6 a.m. Monday. And we'll capture every moment of the day, from pre-surgery to recovery, because we know you're eager to hear the happy ending of this family's story just like we are.