A Second Chance for Hueytown’s Patton Bruce

Mark White | The Mark White Show

Hueytown, Alabama - Patton Bruce is a man who has spent his life keeping the beat. His name is Patton Courice Bruce, a proud 2008 graduate of Hueytown High School, and today he’s keeping another kind of rhythm, the steady pulse of faith and determination that comes from fighting for your life.

Patton has been living with chronic kidney disease for several years. He is currently in stage 5 renal failure and has spent the last year and a half on dialysis, three days a week, four hours at a time. Each treatment keeps him alive while he waits for the one call that could change everything: a kidney transplant.

An Unexpected Diagnosis

In 2021, Patton’s life changed forever. He was injured in a shooting while protecting his child, an act of courage that nearly cost him his life. The doctors who saved him also discovered another threat: advanced kidney damage caused by high blood pressure.

“They told me if I hadn’t come in when I did, I wouldn’t have made it,” Patton said. “That changed everything for me.”

Since then, Patton’s world has revolved around treatments, diet changes, and unrelenting perseverance. “I’ve passed out during dialysis before,” he said. “It’s tough, but I keep going. I’ve got too much to live for.”

Faith, Family, and Friendship

Faith and family have always been at the center of Patton’s life. His mother has been by his side every step of the way, and his wife, Dominique, has been his constant support, sleeping in hospital rooms, managing appointments, and standing by him through every challenge.

When longtime friend Taylor Cater, another Hueytown High graduate, learned of his condition, she immediately stepped in to help spread the word. Taylor once went through the search for a donor for her own father and is passionate about raising awareness for living donation.

“Taylor’s been an angel,” Patton said. “She didn’t have to help, but she did. That’s love.”

How to Help

Patton is currently on the UAB Medicine Kidney Transplant List and eligible for the UAB Kidney Pairing Program, which allows someone to donate in his name even if they are not a direct match. He is blood type O, which means he can only receive from an O-type donor.

Never Give Up

Even after everything he has endured, Patton’s faith remains strong. “Don’t give up,” he said. “Keep God first. He won’t put more on you than you can handle.”

He smiles when he talks about his hometown, the Hueytown community, and the support that has poured in. He still has that same band-room spirit, steady, hopeful, unbroken.

Patton Bruce isn’t asking for sympathy. He’s asking for a chance, a chance to live, to keep making music, to keep loving his family, and to keep representing Hueytown with pride.

Let’s help give him that chance.

Register to be a donor: uabmedicine.org/specialties/transplant-services/kidney-transplant/living-kidney-donor-screening-form

Donate financially: gofundme.com/support-patton-courice-bruces-kidney-transplant

Name: Patton Courice Bruce

Date of Birth: 09/27/1990

Keep him in your prayers. Share his story. And if you can, help him find that second chance.