On the Sidelines: Freedom Swim Coach Brent Miller Donates "Turbo Kidney" to Ailing Family Friend

On the Sidelines with Dan Sousa

(Jan. 29, 2013) - A Baltimore Ravens vs. New England Patriots football match-up normally puts Freedom High School swim coach Brent Miller at odds with good family friend Mary Davis as Miller is a huge Ravens fan and Davis, originally from the Boston area, is a big-time Patriots fan.

Brent and Jessica Miller

When the two teams met a week ago in the AFC Championship game for the second straight year, Miller teased Davis that she should root at least a little bit for Baltimore ... after all, she was the recipient less than 48 hours earlier of a kidney transplant courtesy of Miller.

"I told Mary that she had a little purple in her now so she had to root for the Ravens," said Miller in an interview Friday as he continues his rapid recuperation from the operation that took place on Jan. 18 at Fairfax Inova Hospital.


Miller didn't just donate any ordinary kidney to Davis, whose kidney failure had led to dialysis six to seven days a week, but the doctors called Miller's gift of life a "Turbo kidney" because it started working so quickly. In fact, Davis' new kidney was functioning at 100 percent days after the operation.

"The doctor said it was the best-looking kidney he had seen in several years," said Miller.

That Miller would have one healthy-looking kidney doesn't surprise any Freedom folks who know the clean-living, incredibly-fit 39-year-old who teaches physical education at the South Riding school as well as coaching three sports - boys and girls cross country in the fall, boys and girls swim in the winter and boys lacrosse in the spring. And coaches club lacrosse in the summer!

Actually, incredibly fit doesn't do Miller justice as he has not only completed 10 marathon races but also has run three half Ironman races and two full Ironman races, including one last summer in Lake Placid, N.Y. where he swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles and then ran a full 26.2 mile marathon, completing the grueling challenge in 12:25.09.


Athletics was a way of life in the Miller household growing up in Baltimore as Brent started competitive swimming at age 4 and he ran track and played lacrosse at Catonsville High School. Brent's oldest sister became a swim coach and his middle sister swam at Clemson University.

"I was good at a lot of sports but never great at any one sport so I got into coaching at an early age," said Miller, who was already helping coach youth teams while still in college.

Miller and his wife Jessica moved to Loudoun in 2000 and that is when they became good friends with Mary and her family as Jessica and Mary worked together in the classroom for six years.

"We got to  know her really well," said Miller of the Davis family which put four kids through Broad Run High School. "It is a super nice family, everything you want your family to be."

Mary already had kidney problems back then but Miller said she did a good job of taking care of herself but even so her problem "got worse and worse" and until 18 months ago it progressed to total kidney failure.

Unfortunately none of Mary's kids or other family members were matches to be donors.

Then in May 2012 Miller had his own family heartache to deal with as his father suffered a stroke at age 66 and then passed away.

"It was hard for a month to watch him die. Losing my father played a huge role in all this. Mary has four kids in their 20s and I thought I could do something to keep them from losing their mom at an early age,"said Miller.

So when the race was over, Miller was tested and in early November he got a call back to come in and do more tests -- three hours worth of blood, urine, EKG, CT scan, chest x-ray, you name it.

And the phone rang again the very next day. Could Miller come in for even more testing. He met with kidney specialists, social workers, even nutritionists.

When all was said and done they informed him that he was, indeed, a "perfect match" for Mary.

All he had to do was make a decision that few people make -- there are less than 6,000 living donor kidney transplants in the United States each year.

"My wife and I talked about it ... in the end it was an easy decision. With our faith we felt like God had asked us to serve others," said Miller.

The Miller's have two daughters -- Addison (age 6) and Makenna (age 2) -- and they went with mom and dad over to Mary's house the week before Christmas. Addison had the honor of telling Mary and her family that the Miller's gift this Christmas would be her daddy's kidney.

Many tears of joy fell in both families.

Leading up to the actual transplant there was plenty of suspense with Mary having low platelet levels and then just before the big day, both of Miller's daughters got the flu so that he was forced out of the house by Tuesday prior to the operation, sleeping at a friend's house to remain healthy.

By Thursday, Mary and her husband and Miller met at Fairfax Inova Hospital. Surgery was 7:30 a.m. sharp the next morning with Miller out in three hours and Mary taking a bit longer. The kidney -- nicknamed Sydney the Kidney by Miller and Mary -- was the real star of the procedure.

"Friday was a fog," said Miller. "But by Sunday I was home and Mary was home by Monday."

Recovery is supposed to take six to eight week for Miller but please don't tell him. Within four days of the operation he was walking laps around his neighborhood and within a week he felt up to taking his daughter to dance class along with his wife.

He feels so good that he aims to be on the sidelines when Freedom swims at the Cedar Run District meet this Friday, Feb. 1 at the Freedom Aquatic Center in Prince William.

"I may be sitting in a chair but I hope to be there," said Miller.

Miller says that the kidney donation has been a "life-changing experience" for him.

"I'm glad to be able to help out such a good family and such a great person," said Miller.

Good family. Great person. The same can truly be said of Brent Miller.