Travis Airman donates kidney to family friend

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Raymond Hoy
  • 60th AMW Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  A good friend might loan you $20 until payday. A great friend might loan you a car until yours is fixed. Master Sgt. Robert Bright gave his friend a kidney. 

Sergeant Bright, 572nd Global Mobility Squadron maintenance flight chief, donated one of his kidneys to his friend Mr. Gary Mooring April 20. 

Although they met almost 20 years ago while both were stationed at McGuire Air Force Base, N.J., Sergeant Bright and Mr. Mooring have only had the chance to become good friends within the last two years. 

“You don’t have to know someone for a long time to develop a great friendship with that person,” Sergeant Bright said. “They’ve become almost an extended family.” 

Mr. Mooring started to show signs of kidney failure five years ago. His doctors noticed his blood pressure was very high. After some tests, the doctors told Mr. Mooring he had problems with his kidneys and that he should start dialysis. Mr. Mooring, figuring he was too young to be worrying about things like that, decided to ignore the doctor’s advice. This eventually led to total kidney failure. 

“I suffered needlessly,” Mr. Mooring said. “I had never been sick in my life. I didn’t want to sit on dialysis. I was waiting for some magic pill and that never came.” 

Mr. Mooring now had no other choice than to start dialysis. He began going three times a week for treatments. 

“I didn’t realize how sick I was until after I started dialysis,” he added. 

Mr. Mooring had his name on every donor list there was. But because of the difficulty of matching his O positive blood type, his chances of finding a kidney were starting to look slim. 

“It was devastating to know that I couldn’t find a donor,” Mr. Mooring said. “Both my wife and brother tried to donate, but both were eliminated due to various medical conditions.”
Sergeant Bright didn’t realize how hard it was for Mr. Mooring to find someone who matched all the criteria for a transplant. 

“When he told me his blood type, I checked my ID card and said, ‘well I’ve got that,’” Sergeant Bright explained. “I didn’t realize that it was even a rare blood type until he told me. That was when I actually started thinking about donating.” 

Sergeant Bright weighed all the positives and negatives. And after talking it over with his wife, Sharon, he decided it was the right thing to do. 

“His outlook was so bleak,” he explained. “I just couldn’t see having what he needed to get better and not giving it to him. It was the right decision to make.” 

Mr. Mooring’s outlook was starting to get a lot brighter. 

“It was great news, but then I was worried something crazy would happen to Robert,” Mr. Mooring said. “I kind of became his guardian angel, since he had become mine.” 

Any worries Sergeant Bright had were put at ease when the transplant counselors explained the procedure. He was also surprised that the procedure had a 98-percent success rate. 

After the transplant, Sergeant Bright was lying in his room while Mr. Mooring was up walking around. 

“He was like Superman or something!” Sergeant Bright exclaimed. “I was lying there all stiff and on a liquid diet, and he’s walking around and eating pork chops.” 

That reaction is common among those who receive a new kidney. They are used to living in such pain that having a functioning kidney gives them a huge burst of energy.
Sergeant Bright is currently on convalescent leave and hopes to return to work by May 15. 

Mr. Mooring is receiving is anti-rejection medicine and looking forward to getting on with life. He is counseling new dialysis patients on the importance of listening to the doctor’s advice. 

The doctors have a positive outlook for Mr. Mooring’s new kidney. They are confident it will last at least 15 years. If he continues to take care of himself and takes his medication, it could last the rests of his life.