Two-time kidney recipient encourages more Black people to become donors, candidates – Canton Repository

PLAIN TWP. − Miles McNair-Brown was just 15 when he underwent his first kidney transplant due to vasculitis, which came on the heels of his mother’s unexpected death during surgery for a liver transplant.
“That kidney lasted 18 years,” he said.
Then in 2020, McNair-Brown was diagnosed with kidney cancer and lymphoma.
“They gave me chemo. I had to stop my rejection meds. Everything went south,” he said. “Because of the cancer, I had to wait two years to apply to be on the (recipient) list.”
He had to resort to kidney dialysis, six hours per session, three nights a week.
But in May, the 37-year-old Plain Township resident, who manages a Foot Locker store, became the lucky recipient of a second donated kidney, which has restored him to a full life.
He said he is sharing his story in the hopes of encouraging more Black people to consider becoming organ donors, as well as becoming candidates for organ transplants.
“I think a lot of people are just scared,” he said.
Though the prevalence of kidney disease is higher among Black people than other groups, Black Americans’ fear and distrust of the medical field is deeply rooted — from slaveholders allowing physicians to experiment on enslaved women to forced sterilizations to the “Tuskegee Experiment,” in which the federal government pretended to treat Black men infected with syphilis to study how they fared.
In 1951, a sampling of the late Henrietta Lacks’ cervical cells were harvested during surgery and reproduced without her family’s knowledge or permission. Due to a genetic mutation, the cells, named “HeLa,” were the first human cells found to be able to reproduce infinitely in a laboratory setting. The breakthrough has been credited with advances in polio and HPV vaccines, and in developing cancer drugs and in vitro fertilization. 
In 2003, Lacks’ children successfully sued Thermo Fisher Scientific for an undisclosed sum. In 2013, they gained more control over their mother’s genetic information.
During the 1980s, unfounded rumors persisted that AIDS, which disproportionately impacted Black and LGBTQ+ communities, was a government-sponsored germ-warfare experiment run amok. The government also was blamed by some for the crack-cocaine epidemic which gripped some Black communities.
Even Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger’s original mission was rooted in bigotry. She was a believer in eugenics, the quack-science theory that race is a factor in determining a person’s intelligence.
According to the National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine: “African Americans disproportionately have end-stage kidney disease, yet, they are less likely than whites to receive kidney transplantation. While 39% of people on the kidney waiting list are African American, only 23% of deceased donor organ recipients are African American.”
The agency also reported that people of color are less likely to sign an organ donor card or request a donation.
Black people needing a kidney transplant wait, on average, 1,335 days, compared with 734 days for white people, the report also stated.
Annette Fette, director of development for the Kidney Foundation of Ohio, said they offer outreach programs and try to engage in partnerships with other agencies to educate minorities and others about kidney disease and the importance of organ donations and transplants.
“The Kidney Foundation of Ohio has a Roadmap for Kidney Transplantation program that consists of a three-part video series and accompanying literature that promotes and encourages the transplantation process and living kidney donation for those that are unfamiliar or hesitant to start the process,” she said. “The foundation also partners on a Youth Summit that educates minority youth on chronic disease and organ donation in hopes that they feel prepared to register as an organ donor when it’s time.”
“Sometimes, you can be so afraid that you hurt yourself,” said the Rev. Mark Brown, McNair-Brown’s uncle. “When you need to get well, you can’t have excuses. You’ve just got to do it.”
But even the soft-spoken McNair-Brown admitted to being afraid when he underwent his first transplant so soon after his mother’s death.
His maternal aunt Kathy Brown said she thinks the stress of her sister’s death, coupled with his undiagnosed hypertension led to her nephew’s kidney failure.
“Tell people to get their kids checked,” she said. “It’s very important. He may have been able to avoid it.”
McNair-Brown’s second time of being on the donor list ended on May 11, when the Cleveland Clinic called to inform him that they had a kidney. But the great news was followed by some frantic phone-tag when he couldn’t be located.
“They tried to call me, then they called my Aunt Kathy,” he said.
Kathy Brown said she also tried to get hold of McNair-Brown with no success, then McNair-Brown’s dad, Gerald, her brother, but she couldn’t reach him, either.
“I know you have only a few hours,” she said.
Brown said she reached out to Gerald’s co-worker, Canton firefighter Eric Showes, who was able to reach Gerald, who finally got hold of McNair-Brown, who arrived in Cleveland at 6 p.m., and underwent surgery at 7 a.m. the following day.
Brown-McNair’s surgery was followed by three months of medical isolation to protect his immune system.
“God put me in the right place at the right time,” Showes said.
Showes, who studies Black history, said distrust of the medical profession remains a barrier for minority health.
“That’s something we’ve had to overcome because of our history,” he said.
Showes said he registered his bone marrow with the Be The Match Foundation, which serves as a national clearinghouse to match patients with potential donors.
“I signed up a long time ago,” he said. “We’re under-represented on both ends. Because of the distrust, there’s a lot of ramifications. It can be hard to find a donor.”
Showes said he was inspired to do so after baseball star Rod Carew made national news seeking a bone-marrow donor when his daughter was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. Michelle Carew, who was biracial, died 1996 at 18 after a match could not be found.
“Because of the lack of donors, we can’t save the lives of Black children,” Showes said. “It (the test) can be uncomfortable, but it can’t be as uncomfortable as having leukemia.”
In 2016, Carew himself was the beneficiary of a successful heart and kidney transplant, donated by the family of Konrad Reuland, a 29-year old former NFL player who died from a brain aneurysm.
Today, McNair-Brown takes a steroid, gets weekly tests, and undergoes monthly screenings at the Cleveland Clinic where his second transplant was done. Otherwise, he lives an active life, recently taking a work-related trip to Los Angeles.
“Everything is great,” he said. “I know a lot of people are afraid of surgeries, but it’s worth it to get your life back. I want people to take advantage so they can live life to the fullest.”
Reach Charita at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP.

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