This story is republished with permission from The Birmingham Times
As a longtime Birmingham firefighter and now chief of the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Department (BFRS), Cory D. Moon is used to saving lives. But there is one life he saved that is special to his family: that of his brother Rodney, he said.
This selfless act took place not during a call in a city neighborhood, but at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) hospital, where Cory donated a kidney to his older brother 22 years ago.
“My brother was diagnosed with kidney disease (while he was a student at the University of Alabama), and it got worse over the years,” Cory, 45, told the Birmingham Times. “He was getting ready to start dialysis right before we found out we were a match.”
“Dialysis is a type of treatment that…removes excess fluid and waste from a person’s blood when the kidneys are unable to do so,” according to the National Kidney Foundation (NKF).
“(Because we) did the transplant, … (Rodney) never needed dialysis,” Cory said.
The Transplant Games of America, taking place this week in the Magic City, is the 33rd annual celebration for living transplant recipients and donors like Rodney and Cory, as well as donor families, people on the transplant waiting list, caregivers and transplant professionals.
“It’s a big deal for the city of Birmingham to have these games, and it’s even bigger to have so many donors and so many beneficiaries in one place at one time,” Cory said. “I get to see some of my brothers and sisters who will be coming to the city of Birmingham.”
“Adult Man Movement”
Rodney, 48, called his younger brother’s decision to donate a kidney “a grown man’s decision.”
“When you’re a big brother, you always think of your little brother as your little brother,” Rodney told the Times. “I gained a certain respect for him as an adult. It helped me relate to him as a man, as a brother, not just as a little brother who was always following us around and wanting to be one of the big guys. It’s hard for me to put it into words.”
When it came to donating an organ to his biological brother, there was “no hesitation,” Cory said.
“I had just become a firefighter a year before the kidney transplant, so I wasn’t sure if I could continue to be a firefighter or work,” he recalls. “I didn’t care at all. The only thing that mattered to me was if my brother was okay. I didn’t think twice about it.”
It didn’t have to be his brother for him to become a donor, Cory added: “The gift of giving someone life is priceless. There’s no downside to saving a life. … Think about the outcome and how you can save someone’s life just by donating that organ.”
Rodney and his mother wondered what it would mean for Cory to become a donor. After all, the youngest brother was just starting his career with BFRS.
“I remember my mom and I wondering what the impact would be on Cory,” Rodney said. “Would they stop him from rappelling (lowering his own weight down a rope), carrying bodies and doing all the physical things that firefighters normally do? That’s what he loved.”
“We got the response that he would not be assigned. He would have full freedom to work within the fire department. Before we even got the response, he was fully committed. … It gave me another level of respect for him, besides the fact that he was the little brother.”
Accomplish goals
The Moon brothers grew up in Birmingham’s West End, in the Central Park community, and came of age in the 1980s.
“There was no cable TV, Mom wouldn’t let us out when it was really hot until sundown, and we weren’t allowed to go in and out to get some air,” Rodney recalls. “I remember there was a house across the street from us that had an emergency and the fire department came. (…) We heard the fire sirens and saw the trucks pull up to the house. (…) We were looking out the window and (Cory) said to me, ‘I’m going to be a firefighter someday.’ He never chose another career. He never wavered from that.”
“He fully embraced the idea of becoming a firefighter at a young age. … I’m just impressed that he was so focused on what he said he wanted to do at such a young age,” Rodney said.
Cory remembers that day vividly. “I was 10 years old when that fire happened, but I knew I wanted to be a firefighter since I was 5,” he said. “The firefighters took the time to talk to me after they put out the fire … and that intrigued me as a little kid. As I got older, that desire only grew. My first job was at the Food Fair supermarket around the corner from my house in the Five Points neighborhood; it’s now the Birmingham Public Library. It was right across the street from a fire station, so I was used to seeing those guys coming in and out when I was 15 and it solidified my desire (to become a firefighter).”
“I was fortunate to have great mentors (as well). … I stayed focused on who and what I wanted to be, and I was able to achieve my goals,” added Cory, who joined BFRS in March 2001. He was appointed chief by Mayor Randall Woodfin in October 2019 and sworn in in February 2020.
“Something is wrong”
Rodney remembers being diagnosed with kidney disease in 1995. “I was at the University of Alabama and I started experiencing symptoms of kidney failure,” he said. “I had swelling in my legs, which was a red flag to my mother, who had always worked in the medical field. … She looked at my legs and said, ‘You’re retaining fluid. There’s something wrong.’”
Doctors asked Rodney to take a 24-hour urine test, which can help determine how well the kidneys are working by measuring how well they remove proteins, hormones and other chemicals, such as creatinine, from the blood. Too much can be a sign of a possible kidney problem.
After receiving the results of the 24-hour urine test, Rodney was referred to a nephrologist, a doctor who specializes in treating kidney disease, who diagnosed him with focal sclerosis. The “focal” part, he explained, meant that “the disease was localized to my kidneys and wasn’t going to spread.”
“My nephrologist was at Princeton Hospital and they were able to slow down my kidney failure for about five years,” Rodney said. “I was able to graduate (from Alabama in 1997), join (Omega Psi Phi, Incorporated) and do a lot of other things. I was normal.”
That was until 2001 or 2002, “when I started failing miserably,” he said.
“Even closer as a family”
That’s where his younger brother comes in. “At first, I had to stay in the hospital for a day or two just to do the cross-matching part to see if we were compatible,” Cory recalls.
Compatibility is determined by blood type, tissue type and cross-match. The Moon brothers were compatible, “and we did the surgery (on May 1, 2002),” Cory said.
“We both went to the hospital on the same day,” he added. “I don’t remember how long the surgery took, but I remember waking up and being taken to his room, because the first thing I asked was, ‘How’s my brother?’ They brought my bed into his room so I could see him.”
Cory said he couldn’t put into words how much it meant to him to donate an organ to his brother.
“It was just him and I, so we’ve always been close,” Cory said. “Having that special birthday together has made our bond even closer than it already was. It’s hard to describe how much closer it has made us because we come from a very close family. Obviously, I love my brother, but it’s made us even closer as a family.”
After the surgery, Rodney was “up and walking the next day,” he said. “I call (Cory’s) kidney ‘bionic,'” Rodney added. “He never really put anything in his body that would hurt him over time: no steroids, no alcohol, no drug abuse. He was in perfect condition, and the fire department nursed him back to health. … (My brother) was in the best shape of his life, and I’m the beneficiary of that health.”
“My hero”
Every May 1, the Moon brothers commemorate Transplant Day. “We usually reach out to each other, send each other a reminder and say ‘Congratulations’ and ‘Happy Birthday,’ so it’s subtle,” Cory said. “We remember and commemorate that day because it’s a very special time for us.”
“I wouldn’t be who I am without my older brother,” he continued. “My brother is my idol. I wanted to go to college because my brother went to college. I wanted to play sports because my brother did. I wanted to get good grades because my brother got good grades. That’s why I never thought about donating a kidney.”
Rodney has embarked on a successful business career as a senior program manager with tech giant Amazon, as a real estate broker and property manager, and as the owner with his wife, Karmen, of a recently opened Bruster’s Real Ice Cream franchise in Trussville, Alabama.
“I owe a lot of energy to Cory because … I don’t think I could have done all of this on dialysis,” Rodney said. “I might not have been able to do everything I’ve been able to do. I’ve worked multiple jobs, … and that takes energy.”
In fact, Rodney said his kidney works better than the rest of his body. “Every day I thank God my kidney works,” he said. “It works better than a lot of other parts of my body. (…) I thank God that (Cory) is my hero.”
From July 5 to 10, Birmingham hosts the Transplant Games 2024where thousands of people will gather to honor those who have given the gift of life and raise awareness about organ, eye and tissue donation and transplantation. For more information about the Transplant Games of America, visit transplantgamesofamerica.org.