"I’ve had people call me a hero for donating a kidney for Nathan Farmer, but I’m not. I’m selfish. I wasn’t ready to lose my best friend.
"I was 9 years old when Nathan first lost his kidneys. When I understood what it meant to be a kidney donor, I asked to donate. When he started rejecting the kidney transplant he got all of those years ago, I knew what I was going to do.
"We first were tested for a direct donation, but due to Nathan’s high antibodies, he had to have a perfect match. UAB then told us about the kidney chain. We went back after the first of the year to do the testing and enroll in this program. We waited and waited, for more than a year we waited.
"There were several close calls and one cancellation two days before surgery due to Nathan’s health. We finally got the final call that we were good to go for his transplant after waiting for more than a year on the list. The call actually almost came too late for me to be able to get to Birmingham. Nathan’s mom had to catch the tow boat I work on in east Oklahoma on the Arkansas River and bring me back to Mississippi the day before final testing for the transplant.
"On April 6, 2016 Nathan received his kidney and the next day I donated mine to Kendra Brooks. Kendra became ‘a little bit Irish,’ and I gained a new sister. My mother immediately said she was now our flesh and blood. Kendra and I still text almost daily, and we visit whenever we can."