Teammates for Life: One Year Later

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"Love and Honor' means more to me today than it ever has before." –Steve Fitzhugh, 2022.

"It makes you proud to be a Miamian." –Chuck Martin, 2022.

"It's something I would do again if I had the opportunity." –Derik Hines, 2023.

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In October 2022, former Miami Football player Derik Hines '84 donated his kidney on behalf of his college teammate Steve Fitzhugh '86, who was battling stage five kidney failure.

(To read the 10/18/22 Front Row Feature entitled 'Teammates for Life: A Story of Love, Honor, Faith and a Kidney', click here.)

As word spread about Hines' sacrificial gift, MiamiRedHawks.com readers reached out to ask for updates on Hines, Fitzhugh and their respective health journeys.

With Fitzhugh scheduled to return to Oxford and attend this weekend's Miami Football game, we checked in with both men to learn what has transpired since their story was initially published almost 12 months ago.

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Hines' surgery in Minneapolis on October 18, 2022 (the day after his 62nd birthday) went smoothly. Medication helped manage the pain at least somewhat, and Hines avoided any potential immediate complications that might be cause for concern.

During his recovery in the hospital, his friend Fitzhugh was a constant presence at his bedside. "Steve and his wife Karen just spent time loving on us and providing anything that we needed," Hines remembered.

"He was in my room a lot afterwards, and that dude –if you spend much time with him– he's hilarious. He was of course making me laugh…but it hurt!"

"I was a nuisance to Derik when he was recovering," agreed Fitzhugh. "Because I could always make him laugh!

"In fact, one day, Deb [Derik's wife] said, 'Steve, it might not be good if you come to the hospital today, because you're going to make him laugh and he's going to be in pain!"

In all seriousness, Hines admitted it took longer to regain his strength after the operation than he expected. "I still have a little extra fatigue," he said this spring. "My one kidney is going to continue to grow, evidently, to try to take on the work of both…

"This is still football cockiness in me, but I think I was surprised that I actually took as long to recover as they told me I would," he added. "Just because I still work out regularly, I'd thought, 'Yeah, this will be okay: They're talking about people that aren't really in shape.'

"Well, it's for all of us!"

After Hines was released to return to his Arizona home last October, it was Fitzhugh who would face the next surgery. Hines' donation put Fitzhugh at the top of the list for the next available kidney match, significantly shortening what would have been a two-to-five-year wait and very possibly saving his life.

"The doctor says maybe three days, three weeks or three months," Fitzhugh told us last year. "We're hoping sooner rather than later."

It ended up being three months…exactly.

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Fitzhugh faced multiple 'false starts' in the process, including a pair of prospects in December that fell through at the last minute. One possible donor had a health issue arise, eliminating them from consideration. "[My doctors] pulled the plug, and I was devastated," Fitzhugh said. "But I had to trust my team; I had to trust the experts."

Another candidate got sick literally the day before their scheduled surgery. Once again: No go.

In his weakened state, those weeks of waiting were a significant struggle for Fitzhugh. His legs were atrophied and wouldn't always hold him up; that caused the former Denver Bronco to slip and fall multiple times trying to get from point A to point B, including in an Applebees parking lot with concerned customers staring at him through the window. "Being a big guy, it's no easy thing to get me back up," he laughed after the fact. "The only thing that was bruised was my ego.

"It was tough for Derik to see me like that," Fitzhugh continued. "I had been one of the fastest, most talented athletes he'd known! And to see me in that condition?"

In the meantime, Fitzhugh's dialysis had increased from 10 hours a night to 12 to keep up with his body's needs. "There were times I got off dialysis and it felt as if it was time to hook up again five minutes later," he said.

Without going into unnecessary detail, his bodily functions continued to significantly deteriorate and decline. Still, "Steve was so super-positive through the whole thing," Hines recalled. "Even when those first two possible donors kind of bailed on him, [he would tell me], 'Derik, I know God's got a kidney for me, and He's got a better one.'"

Thankfully, the third time was the charm, as Fitzhugh underwent a successful transplant in Minnesota on January 18, 2023.

"I was told that the challenge with people who have chronic kidney failure is: They get so used to feeling lousy that they forget what normal feels like," Fitzhugh said later. "When my dialysis nurse told me that, I said, 'Oh, that's not going to be me. I'm not going to forget normal.'

"When I woke up the very first day after the kidney in the hospital, my first thought was, 'Wow, THIS is what normal feels like!'"

Fitzhugh's levels began to improve almost immediately, including the glomerular filtration rate that had fallen to single digits (normal is 60+) by the time last year's story was published. "It's back over 90 now!", he exulted.

Another marker he and his doctors were watching closely was the creatinine level: "That's the unprocessed protein in your body that your kidney's not cleaning out," Fitzhugh explained. He was told his numbers should fall somewhere between 1.2 and 1.6 mg/dL, but his had ballooned to a 4 even by the time he was first diagnosed.

The day before his surgery, Fitzhugh's creatinine level was all the way up to a 12, ten times the optimal level.

The day after his surgery, it plummeted back down to 6.

The day after that?

1.9. And it kept improving from there.

"I feel 100% better," Fitzhugh wrote on Facebook that week. "Everything that could have gone right throughout this procedure went absolutely right. All of my numbers are exceptional."

Of course, with 30 staples in his abdomen, Fitzhugh's continued recovery after being discharged on January 22 would still take some time (just as it had for Hines, who was checking in regularly via phone calls and text messages from Arizona).

"When I was recovering, I called Derik and said, 'I owe you an apology,'" Fitzhugh said. "Forgive me for all the times I made you laugh! Because my daughter just said something to me that made laugh, and that was PAINFUL!'

"Derik and I talked frequently and often. He wanted to hear as much as he could [not being able to be there in person]; he was very supportive.

"He's a part of this journey."

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Steve Fitzhugh and Derik Hines — Hines (left) looks on with both men's wives as Fitzhugh
speaks in Arizona in April 2023 (photo by: Diana Mescher)

Less than a month after his surgery, Fitzhugh felt well enough to attend a Super Bowl party in public. He has continued to make progress since then, faithfully taking his prescribed twice-daily anti-rejection medications and receiving positive reports from his regularly-scheduled blood draws and checkups.

"I'm not back to normal, because normal wasn't good for me. I'm back to above-normal!" Fitzhugh said.

Only three months after his procedure, Fitzhugh was ready to resume his public speaking schedule in earnest. The best-selling author and motivational speaker hadn't preached in a Sunday morning service since September 2022.

His first stop? The church in Peoria, Ariz. where Hines is on staff.

"I did tell him that was the only contingency to me giving the kidney to him, was he had to come preach for us here if I gave it. So, he's fulfilling his end of the bargain," Hines joked as he introduced his friend to his congregation.

And on April 23, 2023, in a glorious full-circle moment, Fitzhugh took the stage for a message entitled 'On to Completion.'

"Thank you very much for that introduction," he said with a grin in Hines' direction. "I forget your name, but you're a nice person!"

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"It was good to meet the folks who had been supporting Derik's decision and praying for both of us," Fitzhugh said later that week as he reflected on his visit to Arizona. Both Hines and Fitzhugh have been encouraged repeatedly throughout the past year, not only by the kind thoughts and words from family members, friends, acquaintances, and even strangers, but also specifically the messages from former teammates and classmates at Miami.

"There really was a brotherhood there," Hines said in reference to the ongoing text thread of Miamians that had first clued him in to Fitzhugh's need all those months ago. "You felt it. You experienced it…

"It's cool when you can step back and really re-engage on a deeper level in a relationship with other people, especially guys that you have a past with."

Fitzhugh hasn't slowed down at all since getting a new lease on life. His itinerary has included events with Chicago Bears president Kevin Warren, former Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy and even college teammate and Cradle of Coaches inductee John Harbaugh. He's traveled as far as Israel, to teach American football overseas. And he and Karen recently celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary.

"I learned to value every day and every minute and make it count," Fitzhugh said simply. "I just want to make a difference, and I think I've been given the opportunity to do that."

Fitzhugh will be back at Yager Stadium this weekend for the RedHawks' football game vs. Bowling Green and will be recognized on the field during the game. (Hines had also planned to attend before his travel plans changed earlier this week.)

It's a chance for the entire Miami University family to applaud a remarkable story and to honor a real-life example of Love and Honor.

Even if the donor involved doesn't want any of the credit.

He's just glad to have had the opportunity to be the answer to his own prayer.

"'Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend,' quoted Hines. "I knew going in that I wasn't laying down my life, but there's some connection there that's profound for me.

"It's been such a powerful experience, to see a friend be given life and know that even though it wasn't my kidney, it was my kidney that enabled it to happen," Hines said.

"I would do it again."

Find more Front Row Features at MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures.

Steve Fitzhugh will be recognized on the field at Yager Stadium during the Oct. 7 Family Weekend football game as Miami hosts Bowling Green. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m., and tickets are available for purchase now! Buy a Friends and Family Ticket Package (four or more tickets starting at $88) to receive one gift for each ticketholder and a Brick & Ivy coupon.

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