PREMA lineman serves as organ donor, saving life of a family member

After a three month leave of absence, lineman Cody Childers, is back to work for the Panhandle Rural Electric Membership Association. He spent this leave recovering from surgery to remove 35 percent of his liver that he wanted to donate to his cousin, Amy Childers Soden.

Back in March of 2012, Soden was found to have pre-cancerous cells on her liver. A liver transplant was the best solution for her condition and doctors gave her ten months to find a donor. The search began with close family members and branched out from there. Childers' chance at being a donor began with a phone interview two months prior to the February 6 surgery date. From there, approximately ten blood kits were given to the potential donors and only four of those qualified for a week of testing at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. On January 17, Childers found out that of those four, he was the only suitable match.

There was no doubt in Childers' mind about what to do. He said, “I was brought up where you do what you can to take care of your own. I wanted to help.” He did not hesitate to say yes. And so, February 6 came and the six hour surgery took place. Doctors removed 35 percent of the left lobe of his liver. This portion of his liver would be enough to cover 78 percent of what Amy needed.

Seventeen family members were at the hospital for a week to provide support for Amy, Cody and each other. Childers was out in just four days and was told that he needed to do nothing except eat and sleep. He recalls, “When I woke up from the surgery, I didn’t want to move. I felt like I had been hit by a train. My entire body hurt. If being able to lay there was an option I would have taken it; but it wasn’t, and the doctors had me up and walking in an hour.”

The employees of PREMA were impressed with the 23 year old’s courage, bravery and willingness to donate and wanted to do something for him during his three months off. They approached the Board of Directors about donating personal time off to Childers during his leave of absence. The board agreed, and Cody received a full paycheck and benefits after his own leave benefits were exhausted.

Childers came back to work on April 29. After one week of light duty, he has been back to his normal duties as a lineman. As for Amy, she has had a few setbacks since the transplant. The most serious occurred 20 days after surgery when a blood clot formed in an artery of her new liver and required surgery for its removal. While doctors were at work, they could see that the liver had reached 100 percent capacity of what she needed. She is recuperating quite well and has had her four month checkup. The doctors then reduced her medication by half and she no longer was required to go every week for blood tests. That was stretched to two weeks in July. She is feeling stronger every day. If all continues to go well and stays on track, she won’t have to go back to Rochester until her one year checkup.

Both would like to say thank you to family, friends and the community for all of the support that their entire family has received since the whole ordeal started. From the fund raisers to the phone calls and prayer support, “the community has been great!”

When asked if he would do it again, Childers' reply was, “Without a doubt, yes! It was a long, hard recovery, but it was well worth it. Besides the obvious facts of why, I have some good stories and a real nice scar!”

Childers is the son of Phil and Wendy Childers of Gurley. Both Cody's and Amy's grandparents, Ioan and the late Leroy Childers, are from Sidney. Cody Childers attended Leyton High School. He has been an employee of PREMA since May of 2010 and is a graduate of the WNCC Powerline School.

 This story was first published in the PREMA newsletter