Friend donates kidney to fellow Long Island lifeguard; "A beautiful example for all of humankind"
ROBERT MOSES BEACH, N.Y. -- A Jones Beach lifeguard is being credited with an amazing save, but it didn't involve the water.
He saved a fellow lifeguard by donating a kidney.
Even on a gray day at the beach, the future is bright for Joe Curry, thanks to Brandon Cullen.
The 24-year-olds have been saving lives together for five summers.
"We clicked from right there. We had a lot of similarities. We work out together. We surf together," Cullen said.
Now they share something even more enduring.
"I was born with Alport syndrome, a rare genetic kidney disease," Curry said.
"He was not doing great. It was scary, honestly, to see him in that condition," Cullen said.
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Curry's kidneys started to fail last year. His parents were not donor candidates. That's when something else clicked. Cullen decided to save his friend's life by donating a kidney to him.
"It was really some dark times for us. Brandon came forward. We were worried for both young men," said David Curry, Joe's father.
"I didn't want to see Joe out of commission any longer. I wanted to have my friend back," Cullen added.
Cullen's parents also had concerns.
"Shock, scared, but very proud at the same time," said Kevin Cullen, Brandon's father.
That fear is gone. Successful surgery was performed in March, just in time for a full recovery by beach season.
"My life would return back to normal. In essence, he saved my life and he gave me my life back and there is no way I could ever repay that," Joe Curry said.
"Being back to lifeguarding again with Joe is priceless. It was not easy. The recovery process was a little difficult," Brandon Cullen said.
The young men passed every test, enabling them to return to the job of saving others.
"I'm living proof that you can be healthy, and you can donate your kidney and save a life or a brother," Brandon Cullen said.
If not for his friend's offer, Joe Curry faced years of time-consuming kidney dialysis. There are 100,000 Americans waiting for a kidney transplant.
"A very personal selfless act by him. I'm eternally grateful for it," Joe Curry said.
"A beautiful example for all of humankind," mother Jeanine Cullen said.
"To be a good person and think about putting yourself in other person's shoes," Kevin Cullen added.
Joe Curry said he plans to pay it forward by working as a teacher and, of course, as lifeguard.
"It's in the name, lifeguarding, you save other people's lives. Usually, you just save a stranger. Now that I'm blessed with another chance at life, I don't want to waste it," Joe Curry said.
"Sometimes it's not the ones you anticipate needing the saving, but we are a team," Brandon Cullen said.
Lifeguards, in every sense.
When they are not lifeguarding, Brandon Cullen works on an oyster farm in New Zealand and Joe Curry is a social studies teacher.