Brody Fleming

Type of Donation:          organ, tissue and cornea donor

Age and Location:          Age 24 – Plano, TX

Donation Date:                3/12/2012

Sponsor:                              Honored by OneLegacy

BRODY’S STORY

His grandmother called him a “nix-nootz.”  His brother referred to him as “The Brod.” To his mother he was her “little one.” 

With hair the color of a copper penny, freckles splattered across his face and a chipped front tooth, as a child model Brody graced the cover of PARENTS magazine, Nordstrom’s, and Hart Schaffner Marx advertisements and the billboard at the Beverly Center in LA.

Brody wasn’t much into academics; athletics was his thing. A soccer keeper, baseball catcher, wrestler, football linebacker, basketball forward and how could he spend time in Texas without being a fisherman and a hunter? For that wasn’t a season, it was a way of life.  Brod was a man’s man.

He loved dogs, riding a waverunner on Lake LBJ, Texas Longhorns football, Crossfit, Alan Jackson music, Dr. Pepper; his favorite food was “buffet!”

When he decided to pursue being a fireman, EMT, paramedic it was as if this was what he was supposed to do all along.  Brody wanted to join the “brotherhood,” to be a member of the family of firefighters; to be a first responder. His Toyota Tundra truck seemed to fit right in at Fire Station 1. His Navy dog tags hanging from the rear view mirror.  His Rudy’s bar-b-que cup in the cup holder to spit his dip into.

On March 8, 2012, at the young age of 24, Brody suffered a massive stroke. When the news came “man down,” the waiting room at the hospital was filled with firefighters from all over the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.  They had heard a rookie was on life support and their motto is “no one left behind.”

Brody had a servant’s heart.  He believed in paying it forward.  His donation of organ, tissue and corneas gave 60+ people the gift of life.  Even in his passing, Brody embraced the fireman’s code of “no one left behind.”