Friday March 29th, 2024 8:21AM

Hall Co. firefighter donates kidney to retired father

By Lauren Hunter Multimedia Journalist

Hall County firefighter Chris Huff did not hesitate when he learned that his father, retired firefighter Brad Huff, needed a kidney transplant.

“It was just family…I had the opportunity so I took it,” he said. “There really wasn’t much thinking about it, [Dad] had two options and one option was good, the other was do nothing so it was a pretty easy decision.”

Huff immediately offered to get tested to see if he was a match. When the results came back that he was, he told his dad that he would be willing to donate one of his kidneys.

But Brad Huff was originally skeptical about his son’s offer.

“I wasn’t too keen on it at first because I didn’t want it to jeopardize his career,” he said. “But there’s no talking him out of anything once his mind is made up.”

Huff knows a thing or two about the stressful life of a firefighter- he said his kidney failure was primarily a result of years of strain on his body from his job with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

“The mentality of a fireman is different, we never really think about [our health] because we enjoy our job,” said Huff. “I didn’t think of it as tearing my body up and to be honest, we don’t really check ourselves too often.”

The years of strain culminated on Independence Day in 2015, when Huff suffered a stroke. Although Huff was immediately treated and his health improved, the stroke had done permanent damage to his kidneys.

Huff and his wife Lisa packed up everything they owned and moved from California to Mt. Airy, Georgia during the Thanksgiving holiday that same year. This move allowed them to be closer to Chris and the rest of their family as Huff underwent more treatment.

“If it wasn’t for Chris and our other son Michael…life would’ve been a lot different,” she said.

It was not until last year that Huff was told that he was eligible for a kidney transplant. Chris was the only one who stepped up for testing and was a perfect match for his dad.

All three of the Huffs said that they are a close-knit family. For each of them, there is nothing more important than one another.

“Family, when it comes down to it that’s all you really have that you can count on…it’s the most important thing and family will always be family,” said Brad Huff.

His wife added that although she is not his sons’ biological mother, they have never felt compelled to use the prefix “step”.

“We’re a very tight, close family, we celebrate all of our holidays and birthdays together,” she said. “Step doesn’t really belong in our vocabulary.”

The Huff men went in for surgery on the same day, October 6, 2020, in rooms across from one another at Emory Hospital in Atlanta. Lisa said she waited at the hospital and got a call each hour from the surgical teams operating on her husband and stepson.

But she said that the most stressful part of the whole operation was waiting for the day to arrive, rather than during the actual surgery.

“It’s been a rollercoaster, I think I was more stressed through the six weeks from the phone call that they said we got a date from the surgery,” she said, adding that after the surgery she felt, “Wow, it actually happened and we’re past that hurdle.”

She said that both surgeries went well with little complications. Following the procedures, she immediately went to thank Chris for his sacrifice. She said that she continues to thank him each time she sees him.

“I cannot thank him enough…when I go past him, I go kiss on the top of his head,” she said.

While she said that she considers Chris to be a hero for his dad, he disagrees, stating that the idea of being a hero has often made him uncomfortable.

“I just do what I can do and I mean, why not?” he said. “I mean a risk is a risk but that’s family, so it was a no-brainer for me.”

Chris was discharged two days after the surgery and Brad was released two days after his son. Both men said that their recovery is going well.

“It’s been going a lot easier than I thought it would be…it’s quite boring but, you know, I guess it’s supposed to be that way,” said Chris.

“[I am] Feeling fantastic, better than I have in quite a while,” said Brad, adding, “I think he [Chris] just wants me around longer so he can pick on me some more…he likes messing with me.”

  • Associated Categories: Homepage, Local/State News
  • Associated Tags: Hall County Fire Services, Mt. Airy, kidney transplant
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