Former Ravens defensive lineman Ma’ake Kemoeatu retired in order to donate a kidney to his brother Chris, who is also a former NFL player.
According to Bleacher Report, Chris started having kidney pain ranging back to middle school but he managed to play football at the University of Utah and was later drafted to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The pain became too much, which resulted in Chris retiring in the 2011 season; a year later, Ma’ake retired in order to help his brother.
At a conference at the University of Maryland Medical Center, Ma’ake talked about his decision:
“I’ve seen him struggle and the last three years of his career, fighting through a lot because of his kidney. When we found out he needed a transplant, we had to stop our careers because his health was most important to us.”
Chris learned in 2013 that he needed a kidney transplant due to advanced kidney disease; fortunately, his brother was a 99 percent match.
After realizing Ma’ake was a match, the two lost weight before they were able to proceed. However, after the weight loss Chris found out that he first needed to undergo heart surgery. After the heart surgery, they were able to go through with the kidney transplant in late August.
Everything was a success and the two brothers say they are the closest they’ve ever been.