This story is reprinted with permission The Birmingham Times
Longtime Birmingham firefighter and current captain with the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service (BFRS), Corey D. Moon, is used to saving lives, but he says one life he’s saved holds a special place in his family’s hearts: that of his younger brother, Rodney.
This selfless act didn’t come in response to a tip to a city neighborhood, but rather at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital, where Corey donated a kidney to his brother 22 years ago.
“My brother was diagnosed with kidney disease. [while he was attending the University of Alabama]”And every year his condition got worse and worse,” Corey, 45, told The Birmingham Times. “Just before we found out he was a match, he was getting ready to start dialysis.”
“Dialysis is a type of treatment that…” [removes] Excess fluid and waste [a person’s] When the kidneys can’t pump blood National Kidney Foundation (NKF).
“[Because we] I did a transplant… [Rodney] I never had to go on dialysis,” Corey said.
American Transplant Games in the Magic City This week marks the 33rd annual celebration for transplant patients and living donors like Rodney and Corey, as well as donor families, people on the transplant waiting list, caregivers and transplant professionals.
“It’s a big event for the city of Birmingham just to have these games, and even bigger to have so many donors and recipients all in one place at the same time,” Corley said. “I’m looking forward to meeting my fellow brothers and sisters in the city of Birmingham.”
“Adult behavior”
Rodney, 48, called his brother’s decision to donate his kidney “a grown-up thing to do.”
“He’s always looked at him as his little brother,” Rodney told The Times. “I’ve grown to look up to him as an adult, and it’s helped me to grow closer to him as a man, as a brother, and not just as a little brother, but as a brother who always follows us around and wants to be something big. It’s hard to explain.”
When the decision came to donate his organs to his biological sibling, Corey said he “had no hesitation whatsoever.”
“I’d only just become a firefighter a year before my kidney transplant, so I wasn’t sure if I could continue as a firefighter or keep my job,” he recalled. “I wasn’t worried at all. The only thing that mattered to me was that my brother was OK. I never gave it another thought.”
Corey added that someone didn’t have to be a sibling to be a donor: “The gift of giving life to someone is something you can’t put a price on. There is no downside to saving a life. … Think about the consequences and how you could save someone’s life just by donating your organs.”
Rodney and his mother wondered what becoming a donor would mean for Corey – after all, his brother Corey was at the beginning of his career with BFRS.
“My mother and I [Cory] “Will it have an impact?” Rodney said. “Will they take him off the rappel? [lower your own mass down a rope]Carrying bodies and doing all the physical labor that a firefighter normally does? That was his favorite part.
“The response we got was that he would not be affected. He would have full duties at the fire department. He was fully committed even before we heard back. … He has given me a higher level of respect than just being my brother.”
Goal achievement
The Moon brothers grew up in Birmingham’s West End, Central Park neighborhood, and came of age in the 1980s.
“We didn’t have cable TV, and Mom wouldn’t let us go outside when it was too hot until the sun went down, and we weren’t allowed to go in and out the door to air out,” Rodney recalled. “I remember there was an emergency at the house across the street, and the fire department arrived. … I heard the fire sirens, and I saw a truck pull up in front of the house. … I looked out the window, and [Cory] “My dad told me, ‘I’m going to be a firefighter one day.’ He never chose another profession and he never strayed from that.”
“He fully embraced the idea of being a firefighter from a young age. … I’m just impressed that at that young age he was so focused on doing what he said he wanted to do,” Rodney said.
Corey also remembers that day vividly. “I was 10 years old when that fire happened, but I’d wanted to be a firefighter since I was 5,” he says. “The firefighters actually took the time to talk to me after putting out the emergency. … That piqued my interest at a young age. As I grew up, that dream just got bigger and bigger. The first job I ever had was at a food fair. [supermarket] Right near my house in Five Points. [area]it’s now the Birmingham Public Library. It was directly across from the fire station so when I was 15 I used to watch the firemen coming in and out. [my] desire [to become a firefighter] It will become even stronger.”
“I was blessed with good mentors. [too]”… I was able to focus on who I wanted to be and achieve my goals,” added Corey, who joined BFRS in March 2001. He was appointed chief by Mayor Randall Woodfin in October 2019. Sworn in February 2020.
“Something is wrong”
Rodney remembers when he was diagnosed with kidney disease in 1995. “I [attending University of Alabama]”Then I started having symptoms of kidney failure,” he said. “My legs were swelling, which was a sign to my mom, who’s always worked in medicine. She looked at my legs and said, ‘You’ve got fluid in your legs. Something’s wrong.'”
Doctors had Rodney undergo a 24-hour urine test, which helps determine how well his kidneys are working by measuring how well they are able to remove proteins, hormones, and other chemicals, such as creatinine, from the blood. Too much creatinine is a sign that there may be kidney problems.
After receiving the results of a 24-hour urine test, Rodney was referred to a nephrologist, a doctor who specializes in treating kidney disease, who diagnosed him with focal sclerosis — “focal,” meaning “confined to the kidney, not spreading,” Rodney said.
“My nephrologist is at Princeton Hospital, and they were able to delay my kidney failure for about five years,” Rodney said. “I was able to graduate.” [from Alabama in 1997]Pledge [Omega Psi Phi fraternity, Incorporated]Beta Eta Chapter]and many other things. I was normal.”
That was until 2001 or 2002, when “it started to go horribly wrong,” he said.
“We’ve become even closer as a family.”
That’s where his brother comes in. “At first, I had to stay in the hospital for a day or two just to do the matching to determine if we were a match,” Corey recalls.
Compatibility is determined by blood type, tissue type and cross-matching. The Moon brothers were a match and “underwent surgery.” [on May 1, 2002]” said Corey.
“We both [into the hospital] “I had surgery the same day,” he added. “I don’t remember how long it lasted, but I remember waking up and the first thing I asked was, ‘How is my brother doing?’ They wheeled me into his room in a wheelchair so I could see him.”
Corey said he can’t put into words how much it meant to him to donate his organs to his brother.
“It was just my brother and I, so we’ve always been close,” Corey said. “Sharing this special anniversary together has made us even closer than we were before. We come from close-knit families, so it’s hard to put into words how much closer we are. Of course I love my brother, but we’ve definitely become even closer as a family.”
After the surgery, Rodney said, “The next day I was up and walking.” [Cory’s] “He’s never put anything in his body that would have harmed him in the long run. No steroids, no alcohol, no drug abuse. He’s in perfect condition, the fire department has treated him and got him in shape,” Rodney added. [My brother] He was in the best shape of his life, and I am the beneficiary of that health.”
“My hero”
Every May 1, the Moon brothers commemorate the day of their transplant. “We usually just reach out to each other and send reminders and say, ‘Congratulations,’ and ‘Happy anniversary,’ so it’s kind of subtle,” Corey says. “It’s a special day for us, so we remember it and commemorate it.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without my brother,” he continued. “He’s my idol. He went to college so I wanted to go to college. He played sports so I wanted to play sports. He got good grades so I wanted to get good grades… So donating a kidney was just a no-brainer for me.”
Rodney has embarked on a successful business career as a senior program manager for technology giant Amazon, a real estate broker and property manager, and with his wife, Carmen, as the owner of a recently opened Bruster’s Real Ice Cream franchise in Trussville, Alabama.
“I owe a lot of that energy to Corey because… [don’t think I would have been able] “Doing all of this on dialysis was hard,” Rodney said. “I [might not have been] “I can’t do any of the things I used to do anymore. I work multiple jobs, and that takes energy.”
In fact, Rodney said his kidneys work better than the rest of his body. “Every day I thank God that my kidneys are working,” he said. “They work better than a lot of other parts of my body. … I thank God.” [Cory] He will be my hero.”
From July 5th to 10th, Birmingham will host the 2024 Transplant Games.At The Famerica Transplant Games, thousands of people will come together to honor those who give the gift of life and raise awareness about organ, eye and tissue donation and transplantation. For more information about the Famerica Transplant Games, visit transplantgamesofamerica.org.
