BRITEN DOUGLAS – 2019 COURAGE TO SHINE™ Lisha Martinez & Adam Young Award Recipient

My name is Briten Douglas and I was born on October 27^th in 1986 with bladder exstrophy.  That makes me 32 years old!

I say that very proudly because that also makes me a survivor for 32 years of a birth defect that has made me face death more than a handful of times, as well as presented me with challenges that most people could never imagine.  However, in the same breath, I wouldn’t trade this body for any other because it has faced so many odds and fought so many wars … and came out on the other side and won! When I came into this world, I had no bladder and my pelvis was not fully formed.  My legs dangled on either side and at first the doctors didn’t know the extent of the severity of my birth defect.  I was rushed immediately into surgery and my parents were given the unimaginable news that I may not survive due to the birth defect.  They were told that even if I did survive the surgery that I would never be able to walk and that I would live a compromised life.

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