MACON, Ga. — A Macon family is turning a terrible accident into a lifesaving operation for a child. In June, 2-year-old Kadir Royal Renfroe's 5-year-old brother accidentally shot him, but the family quickly made the decision to turn their child's passing into a new opportunity for another child by donating his organs.
The majority of patients on the organ transplant list in Georgia are black. Kelvin Renfroe and Alexa Johnson opted to help fill that gap, and it's a gap that Minority Donor Awareness Week tries to fill every year across the nation.
"Kadir was just like me. He was a duplicate of me. He looked like me, acted like me, talked like me. He did everything like me," said Johnson, Kadir's mother.
Johnson said her and her toddler were very close. Now, the parents say their house feels a bit different.
"It's more quiet now, because everybody's, like, separated. They'd be to themself, but he'd be somewhere standing on top of his head," Johnson said.
"I guess I haven't just let go yet. It kinda feels like he's always here, still with me," said Renfroe, Kadir's father.
When the pair realized they wouldn't be able to save their son, they made a difficult decision to donate his organs. They knew he could potentially save someone else.
"I just hope the kid that received them, that they, that made them get through the sickness, that they won't have to overcome nothing else," Johnson said.
Asha Ellen works for LifeLink of Georgia, an organization that orchestrates organ recovery and supports research efforts to enhance the supply of organs nationwide. August 1st - 7th is National Minority Donor Awareness Week.
Ellen said minority donors are always in short supply and African-Americans are at a higher risk for certain diseases.
"They affect everybody, but within African-American communities, we're more at risk of things such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity," Ellen said. "I just want everyone to know that at 2 years old, Kadir is a hero."
115,000 people nationwide are awaiting a lifesaving organ transplant. In Georgia, 63% of that wait list is made of African-Americans. 67% of people awaiting kidneys, specifically, is also made up of African Americans.
Ellen says her role is to educate the black community and fight stigmas surrounding donations. Each year, the number of people on the waiting list continues to be much larger than both the number of donors and transplants. LifeLink said that while 95% of Americans support organ donation, only 58% are actually signed up as donors.
Kadir's parents are just proud their son is living on in someone else. His liver was matched with a 6-month-old within 30 minutes of their decision to donate Kadir's organs.
"Somebody in California might need a kidney or something. 30 years later, that same person might be the president, you know what I'm saying? My son could do that," Renfroe said.
The family has started a support group for families that have lost children called the Royal Support Group. Parents can reach out to Alexa Johnson on Facebook.