Sergeant Gives Kidney to Fellow Airman

Sergeant Gives Kidney to Fellow Airman

February 04, 2009
Air Force Print News|by MSgt. Darryl Bush

KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. - On April 30, 2008, Staff Sgt. Andrew Jones became what some would call the "ultimate wingman."

Sergeant Jones, a senior controller in the Maintenance Operations Center of the 58th Maintenance Operations Squadron, gave one of his kidneys to Tech. Sgt. Adam Johnson, a fellow controller, who had been in total renal failure for more than 22 months.

Sergeant Johnson was suffering from a rare autoimmune disease known as IgA nephropathy, which meant his body had turned against itself and his immune system was killing his own kidneys. He was udergoing long and painful dialysis treatments to remove the toxins from his blood that his kidneys no longer could.

"Adam would come to work on Monday and he would just be puffy. There's no other way to describe it," said Maj. Mark O'Reilly, 58th MOS commander. "His skin was ashen and there were bags under his eyes, but through it all he never let it affect him or his professionalism."

Sergeant Johnson's family all submitted to screening tests, but none were found to be a viable donor. Six members of the 58th MOS also volunteered to undergo screening; however, all but one was quickly eliminated. The sixth, another MOC controller, passed all but the last test before finding out that she, too, was not a viable donor.

After almost 18 months of dialysis, the prospects of finding a kidney were starting to dim.

Then, in the summer of 2007, Sergeant Jones joined the MOC team as a weapons system controller. He heard about Sergeant Johnson's fight for life and his need for a kidney and without any hesitation, he volunteered to undergo the screening process.

This process is a long and arduous one. Besides the many compatibility tests and invasive procedures to ensure a donor kidney will be accepted by its host body, potential donors must also undergot many hours of counseling and psychological screenings . The tests are for the safety of both the donor and the recipient and are meant to ensure the donation is being made under legal and ethical circumstances.

For Sergeant Jones, this meant that many tests had to be performed after long nights as the senior controller during the midnight shift. Then, finally, on April 1, doctors cleared Sergeant Jones to donate one of his kidneys to Sergeant Johnson.

"At first I thought it was an April Fools' joke," Sergeant Jones said.

The surgery took place on April 30. For six hours, doctors worked to remove the kidney from Sergeant Jones and implant it into Sergeant Johnson.

"The kidney 'pinked up' immediately," said Lorissa, Sergeant Johnson's wife. "Before long, the color returned to Adam's face and his energy started coming back. He had so much energy, the nurses had to threaten to tie him down to keep him in bed!"

Meanwhile, recovery for Sergeant Jones was painful, at times making even breathing unbearable. Family, friends and members of the 58th MOS stood by him and despite the struggles, Sergeant Jones never complained or regretted the decision.

"I felt that, for whatever reason, I was meant to be in the MOC and to help [Sergeant Johnson]," Sergeant Jones said.

Help that Sergeant Johnson is forever grateful for.

"It is truly a humbling experience to have to ask someone outside of my family to give up an organ," he said. "(Sergeant Jones') decision to donate rescued me from a miserable existence on dialysis. His gift gave me my life back and saved my military career and I will always be grateful for that."

Today, both sergeants have fully recovered and continue to work side-by-side in the MOC.

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