NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Something you've definitely heard before is people who have served in the military have a forever kinship. Sometimes that kinship can extend to people who have never even met before. It's hard to think of a better example of that than this story.
There's a whole lot that led to this Nashville hotel stay for John David Miller.
"Everything was perfectly fine, and suddenly, it wasn't," Miller said. "[It was] severe pain and throwing up."
That began his many trips traveling from home in northern Alabama up to Vanderbilt Health.
"It's CT scans, MRIs, blood work, then drive back to Huntsville," Miller continued.
Miller had gone into renal failure.
"We removed my right kidney, then we managed one kidney for nine or so years, it too got sick," Miller said.
He needed a kidney transplant.
Something I should mention is Miller long served as a Green Beret. A fellow Green Beret, Mike Jenne, posted a Facebook message to a group full of people who were in the US Army Special Forces. Jenne wanted to know if anyone could donate to Miller. There was another Green Beret out there who answered.
"I couldn't believe someone called me right out of space," Miller said. "'I've got your kidney!'"
"Somebody you didn't know?" I asked.
"I didn't know him from Adam's cat. Now, I do!"
There was another complication.
"They had to remove this last kidney and found renal cell carcinoma," Miller explained. "That delays us three years."
Miller had to wait until after cancer treatments for the kidney transplant. What did this potential donor think?
"He's like, 'I'll be there. When it's time to give you this kidney, I'll give you this kidney,'" Miller said. "I don't want to overstate this or understate it, but God had a hand in all of this. There's no question."
Something I didn't mention earlier is I wasn't the only person who stopped by to visit Miller on this day.
"I'd like to say that every Green Beret would do the same thing," Miller said, sitting next to John Ross.
Ross is the fellow Green Beret who is the donor for Miller.
This visit I had with the two was the day before their kidney transplant. Today, I can tell you the surgery is a success. When we met, I asked Ross why he decided to donate a kidney to someone he'd never met.
"Why not?" he said. "It comes down to mathematics. He has zero. I have two. There's nothing quite like the Green Berets."
"We're a brotherhood, no question," Miller added.
"It's the love of the Lord," Ross said. "I love you, brother."
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
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