Community rallies behind firefighter's son who had transplant

ATLANTA - You couldn't tell that just a couple months ago little Hunter Moore of Jonesboro was so sick that he almost died.

The son of a Fayette County firefighter was born with a genetic condition called Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, which makes an abnormal type of protein that damages the liver.

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It has been a nearly four year struggle for his parents Robbie and Diana Moore who watched their son’s health deteriorate.  Diana said his skin was yellow and he was becoming more and more forgetful, and he wasn’t able to keep up with his friends.

Hunter underwent a liver transplant surgery at Children's Health Care of Atlanta Egelston just last December. It went so well that Hunter was able to return to school just this week, two months after the operation.

“A healthy happy four-year old,” Diana said.

And now for his parents Robbie and Diana every day is a blessing. Two months after the surgery Hunter is pedal to the metal, as we watched him spin in circles in his bedroom until he became dizzy. Pedal to the metal, thank God.

“The great thing about Hunter is you, you get to love him every second of every day, because you don’t know when the last one is,” Robbie said.

The hard part was hard and now the rest of it is hard too: The bills. For now, this young family is living the basement of Diana’s parents’ house in Jonesboro and grateful for it.

The community is helping too. There have been pizza nights at a local restaurant. This coming Sunday, February 28, there is a benefit concert at First Christian Church in Jonesboro. The money will go to the Children’s Organ Transplant Association in honor of Hunter. It helps to pay for the past and what will be a lifetime of medical care. For more information visit cotaforhunterm.com.