Soldiers are taught to never leave their fellow man behind, and that lesson seems to have stuck for one veteran who made a lifesaving donation to his sick Army brother decades after they served together.
In the mid-1990s, Kai Johns and Robert Harmon served together in the Army at Fort Bragg as paratroopers, and while they haven’t seen each other in 16 years, the bond these military brothers share is unbreakable. So when Johns found out he needed a kidney transplant, Harmon selflessly stepped up to save his life.
This past November, 44-year-old Johns visited an urgent care center for what he thought was the flu. “I went to urgent care and said I needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. They immediately admitted me and told me I had six percent kidney function,” Johns said. “My body was just filled with toxins.”
Both of Johns’ kidneys had failed and he was placed on the donor list for a kidney, however, they estimated it would take seven years to get to the top of the list since he needed an O-positive kidney to match his blood type, which is very rare. While waiting, he started dialysis three times a week. “Dialysis is no way to live,” Johns said.
It was clear that Johns wouldn’t last seven years on dialysis, so his wife reached out to friends and family on Facebook to look for a donor. “It got shared like crazy. We went on the hunt for a living donor,” Johns said. Harmon saw that his old friend was in desperate need so reached out to see what he could do and how he could get tested. “We were paratroopers in the Army together and that brotherhood runs deep,” Harmon said.
Johns and Harmon were a perfect match and underwent the kidney transplant operation in late April and Johns immediately felt better when he woke up from the operation. “For someone to offer up a piece of themselves to save your life, there are no words for it. It was an eternal thanks,” Johns said. “We were always good friends. It’s just that military brotherhood.”
Watch the entire video below to see the incredible way this veteran saved his soldier brother’s life.
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[Featured image: Fox5]
Soldier Donates Kidney For Old Army Buddy is an article from: LifeDaily