“I first told my brother-in-law, Ron Simmons, that I was going to donate a kidney to him at Christmas of 2016. I had really been thinking and praying about it hard because I just felt like he was not going to live much longer if I didn’t. So I said, ‘For your Christmas present this year, I’m donating you a kidney.’
“A lot of people thought I was a little crazy because I was nearly 70 years old, but I have always wanted to be an organ donor. A lot of my friends told me I was getting to the age where everything was falling apart and stuff like that, but the Lord has always blessed me with good health.
“I have always eaten right and drunk a lot of water. Even at my age, I don’t take any prescription medicines, just a few vitamins. So I just left it up to the good Lord. If it was His intention it would happen, and if not it wouldn’t. Thankfully it did.
“Ron had no quality of life. He had been on dialysis for more than five years, and he really only had one good day a week which was Sunday. He was just getting so bad. He has always been special to me, so I wanted to do what I could for him.
“Because of my decision, I got to help Ron and my recipient, Wade Patten, who has now become dear to me as well. He came to my room and visited me the day I was released from UAB Hospital, and we have kept in contact through phone calls and text messages since then.
“Wade tells he feels better now than he has in years. To hear that and know you helped somebody else live that kind of life is a wonderful feeling. If someone is thinking about becoming a living donor to the UAB Kidney Chain, I would tell them to do it because it’s the greatest feeling in the world.
“The hardest thing for me about this whole situation is that I am all the time running into somebody who says, ‘You’re a hero’ but I didn’t do this to be a hero. I didn’t want any recognition or glory for it.
“The good Lord is the one who pulled us all through and made sure everything worked out for the good, and He deserves all the credit. I just did it to save my brother-in-law’s life when it looked like no one else could.”