Spokane, WA – Nick Brommer said his wife, Chantal, lives on in her children, their memories made together, videos and photos he cherishes, and in the multiple people who received one of Chantal’s donated organs.
“She saved three people’s lives,” Nick said. “They’re so grateful. The first thing they say is: I’m going to take care of these for her. I’m going to take care of these organs.”
Nick and Chantal’s love story began in 1999. The two met and immediately bonded over both having twins. Nick knew from their first encounter that Chantal was special, and wasn’t about to let her go.
“The word passionate is a really good description for Chantal,” Nick said. “Chantal was this strange dichotomy because (she was an) accountant by day then (it was) fast cars, motorcycles, loud music outside of work. She was a very magnetic, charismatic person.”
The two were married in April of 2000 and soon after became a family of seven. They vowed a partnership in sickness and health, but never could have anticipated the unexpected decline of Chantal’s health.
“Around January 2020, she started having strange symptoms; her speech was slurring,” Nick said. “It got progressively worse.”
The diagnosis Chantal received in 2021 could have knocked Nick over with a feather.
“We got the news that she had ALS… Bulbar-onset ALS,” Nick said. “The thing about ALS is it’s always going to be fatal.”
Nick and Chantal started planning for her funeral, and Chantal said she wanted to donate her organs.
“Her thought was ‘don’t let this be for nothing,'” Nick said. “Let’s make something good out of something bad. When you donate organs, you can save up to 8 people.
When you donate organs, that’s an incredible legacy for you as a person because you’re saving someone’s life. What does it cost you? Nothing.”
About three years after Chantal’s terminal ALS diagnosis, she was wheeled down the halls of Providence Sacred Heart as machines kept her body alive. At 51 years young, this would be Chantal’s final journey, but the beginning of a new chapter for the people desperately awaiting her organs.
“Part of the organ donation is they do an ‘honor walk’ at the hospital. It’s where the hospital staff lines the hallway along with friends and family,” Nick said. “We removed life support, they removed the organs, they flew them out to their destinations and those people received them within hours.”
Nick received a text after from Northwest LifeCenter, the organization that facilitated Chantal’s donation and facilitates organ donations across Washington state, that Chantal’s kidneys and heart had found a new home.
“Two separate people received her kidneys,” Nick said. “The woman who received Chantal’s heart says she touches her scar on her chest and looks up and says ‘thank you, Chantal.'”
Kateri Hitchcock is the director of referrals optimization at LifeCenter Northwest and says the need for organ donations is great.
“In the state of Washington, there’s about 1600 people waiting for a life-saving organ, and nationwide that number is over 100,000 (people),” Kateri said.
LifeCenter Northwest reported a record number of organ donors and lives saved in 2025.
“In 2025, we were able to support 337 organ donors, which is the most in our history and resulted in over 1,000 organs trasnplanted, which is 24% increase from 2024,” Kateri said. “930 lives saved is a 125% increase over the last decade and the most in our organizations history so really, really incredible and that’s all thanks to families.”
Families like the Brommers, who hope Chantal’s story inspires others.
“I think it’s an important conversation to have with your loved ones,” Nick said. “Yeah, I wanna help somebody in a way nobody else can.”
Kateri encourages anyone with questions about organ donation or interested in registering to be a donor to visit the LifeCenter Northwest website at lcnw.org
Chantal Brommer was among organ donors honored in Olympia last year on April 3, 2025, which would have been the day of her 25th wedding anniversary with Nick.
“To me, that felt like a message,” Nick said. “Yeah, this has been a tremendous loss for you, but it’s not for nothing. Her death was a real wake-up call for us to realize that there’s no guarantees.”
Nick said he would guarantee that he and the children he raised with Chantal are now organ donors.
