Living Life to the Fullest
While Knowing Only a Transplant Can Save His Life
(This story originally aired on News Channel 7 in Spartanburg during April of 2005.)
Written by Mark Johnson

Nationwide approximately 100,000 people are on the National Transplant Waiting List on any given day.  Everyday 18 people die waiting on a transplant.  That means one person dies every 90 minutes in the US waiting for a life saving transplant. 

It is important to remember that those people are not just numbers.  They are parents, siblings and friends to many people.  So when one of those people dies, the lives of many others change forever. On December 21, 2004, (just 4 days before Christmas), Russ McBrayer died waiting on a liver transplant. Russ, my best friend, never got the Gift of Life.  However, in his short time on Earth, he lived life to the fullest everyday until the end. This is the story of his life and the reason I became involved with organ donation awareness.    

“He was always happy and smiling!  Not just smiling…but having a good time.

We describe Russ as our spiritually correct social animal,” says Betty McBrayer, Russ’s mom. 

He’s the kind of person everyone should have in his or her life.  

I first met Russ when we worked together in Knoxville, Tennessee. I didn’t know he was sick. Russ’s mom says, “He didn’t talk about it.  He didn’t tell people he had a problem until they finally found it out.”   

Russ was living with an incurable liver disease.  He was just 22 when diagnosed. 

“He dealt with different symptoms, but fatigue was the most noticeable.  He managed to go ahead and finish school, graduated, went to work...and worked full time the whole time. Mostly he had to deal with fatigue. He dealt with it.  It was just a part of his life."  Betty McBrayer adds.

Having a positive and fun loving attitude, Russ never let the fatigue and other symptoms stop him from enjoying life and the mountains. 

Russ’ mom remembers, “That’s the one thing he really liked to do is hike.   He loved to go up into the Smokies and hike.  But that got to be a little harder. So he got a convertible and went up in the Smokies and drove through them then.  Yeah, he liked hiking."

Eventually, his love for hiking took a back seat to the reality that his liver was failing. Russ had to quit work and time was running out.

The family gathered for another Thanksgiving with Russ.  Then thoughts and prayers turned to the best possible Christmas present ----a new liver and a new life ---for Russ. Soon he was hospitalized and moved to the top of the waiting list for a new liver.   

“We went on Tuesday December 6 or 7^th.    He seemed to be doing OK.  They evaluated him and told us his number was going up.   He was ready---number one in the region waiting for a liver.  Then the infection took over and he went down hill from there. He died two weeks later on a Tuesday,” recalls Mrs. McBrayer. 

That was just four days before Christmas in 2004. My friend Russ was only 32 years old. 

Unfortunately, one person like Russ dies every 90 minutes in the United States waiting for a life saving transplant.