A recently retired Lexington firefighter is saving another life after donating his kidney to his friend and former Boyd County EMS director.
Rodney Mullannix retired from Station 19 of the Lexington Fire Department at the beginning of the year.
This summer, he learned that his friend of 24 years, Tom Adams, was suffering from kidney failure and in need of a donor.
"If UK had been open at the time I saw the post, I would've called them then. There was no thought process to it, I'm just trying," Mullannix said.
The following day, he went to get tested. He found out he was a match for Adams.
"That was a showstopper to be honest. It was one of those moments in time that sort of is stamped forever in your mind. I was driving and had to pull over, because it almost took your breath," Adams said of the moment he got the call from Mullannix.
Mere weeks later, on July 25, the two met in Lexington for the transplant.
Adams has become an advocate for others to consider donating.
"That literally is a gift of a new life," he said.
Donate Life America estimates more than 90,000 people are waiting for a kidney donation in the United States. The organization adds that a new person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 10 minutes.
Mullannix and Adams both added that the recovery process is going smoothly, and that the procedure made their friendship even stronger.
"I'm walking around every day with Rodney's kidney, which we call 'Rodney Jr.' My kids named him," Adams said. "He's now part of me. I couldn't get rid of him if I wanted to. So now, he feels like my brother."
