Ex-Raven quit football to donate kidney to ex-Steeler younger brother
Some things are more important than football. Just ask former Ravens defensive lineman Ma'ake Kemoeatu. Kemoeatu quit football after the 2012 NFL season so that he could donate a kidney to his ailing brother.
The twist in this story? Kemoeatu's brother is also a former NFL player. Chris Kemoeatu spent seven seasons with the Steelers before his ailing kidney forced him into retirement after the 2011 season. The 31-year-old had been suffering from kidney problems since he was in eighth grade.
The two brothers held a press conference on Wednesday, exactly three weeks after the surgery, to announced the kidney transplant was a success. The public showing gave Ma'ake a chance to explain why he donated his kidney to his younger brother.
"He couldn't play anymore, and I didn't want to be in a position where he couldn't play but I'd keep playing," Ma'ake said, via the Associated Press. "As soon as my brother's health was at risk I wanted to stop everything."
Ma'ake and Chris come from a family of seven children and as the oldest, the 35-year-old Ma'ake said it's his job to make sure everyone is taken care of.
"I'm the oldest of the seven kids, and it's my responsibility to take care of my younger brothers and sisters," Ma'ake said. "If my younger siblings need blood, it'll be my blood. If they need a kidney, it'll have to be my kidney."
Preparation for the kidney transplant began over 18 months ago and the surgery was supposed to happen before August 27, but that didn't happen because Chris found out he'd need coronary bypass surgery before he could accept his new kidney.
Chris had the heart surgery done in June.
"I knew in my mind that he's fighting a kidney and now he has to have heart surgery," Ma'ake said. "I said to him, it's going to be OK. I talked to him in football aspects. I said, 'all right, we're not going to get this in the first down, but we're fourth and long right now and we have to go deep. We'll make it through the first down -- the heart surgery, to the end zone -- the kidney transplant."
The two brothers are halfway through the six-week recover period and it's been so far, so good for the Kemoeatus.
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