“Years ago, I developed what they called toxemia at the time. The doctors told me then that it had damaged my kidneys and one day it would start showing up.
“In 2010, we had a lady come to my work to give everyone a physical for insurance purposes, and through some blood work, she found out then that I needed to see a kidney doctor. I did, and the doctor immediately put me on the deceased kidney donor list and started monitoring me. She said it would just be a matter of time, and she was right. Luckily, I never had to go on dialysis. I was very blessed in that respect.
“I have always been a hard worker, and I kept on working through all my kidney problems. I worked at a nursery doing landscaping, and I loved it. But I started noticing I just couldn’t hold out like I had before. My energy would wear out, and I had to stop a lot more. I just started going downhill more and more.
“Fortunately, I had a boss who told me to do what I needed to do to keep going, and I’m hard-headed I guess, because I kept working right up to the week I had my transplant surgery. I worked on a Monday that week and had my surgery on Friday.
“That’s when Anna Marie Hamilton came into my life. Anna Marie is my donor and a very special young woman. As a mother, it broke my heart when we found out my daughter, Gina Daugherty, was not a match for me. But when she said she was willing to donate to the UAB Kidney Chain so I could get a kidney, it made me realize just how much she cared about her momma. And she helped someone else just like Anna Marie helped me. There is a special place for people like them who will give so much of themselves to help others.
“When she donated her kidney, Anna Marie was a student at the University of Tennessee. Now I’m a big Alabama fan; but going forward, there will be a place in my heart for Tennessee. I will have to root for them when they are playing other teams besides Alabama.
“I bless her every day for what she did for me because it’s wonderful. I could be lying here on dialysis now, but I’m able to get up and go and do basically what my body will let me do thanks to her. I just hope she will change her mind and come over to the Crimson Tide side someday.”