Roots, Family, And Empty Nesting

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Okay, Ron, I was uh born and raised in Moss Point. I I was educated at Moss Point, went to Mississippi State to do my undergrad. I worked with the football team as an equipment manager upon graduation, had my feet in the water in the NFL as a seasonal equipment manager with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And, you know, from there I came home back to Moss Point and settled back down and then eventually met a young lady, Sandy Platt, at the time. And we we were wed in 2000, and we've been living in Gupport and raising two magnificent sons who have both went on and graduated at Mississippi State. And they're out of the house, Ron. We are empty nesters.

Ron Meyers 0:39

You're empty nesters. And you know, I've known you for many years when you were working with the Sun Herald and you attend Christmas City every year. And last year I saw you at Christmas City and you were taking a break, and you were telling me you were tired because you were going to dialysis, I think a few days a week, weren't you?

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Yes, sir. I remember that night.

Hernia Visit Reveals Liver Failure

SPEAKER_00 1:02

I was sitting out by the uh concession stands. Yes. Before COVID, uh several weeks before COVID, about a month before COVID really hit the Gulco, I went in for a hernia surgery at Memorial Hospital. And Dr. Christine Carter, she she came out. I was in recovery. The surgery was not performed. And I went in for the hernia, and she said she couldn't do the surgery because my liver had failed. I had cirrhosis of the liver. I was pushing out, my body was holding a lot of a lot of fluid. So she told Sandy and I, we just can't do the surgery at this time until the uh liver had healed. And one thing led to another, my kidneys started failing, and the doctors really took an emergency action to start my own dialysis. So I started dialysis about three weeks before, again, COVID, I don't know the exact date, but we started dialysis. I was going

Six Years Of Dialysis And Hard Questions

SPEAKER_00 1:55

for three days a week, about five hours a day for six years.

Ron Meyers 1:58

And you are a person of faith. So during this time, were you praying for a miracle? Were you praying for God to please intervene?

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Well, Ryan, to tell you the truth, I was I was not mad at God, but I was just asking questions. You know, what why is it happening to me? Yes, I was praying. Again, you know, he God has answered prayers, he has unanswered prayers. But at the time, you know, I just had to wait on my faith to take toll, and a decision was made.

Ron Meyers 2:29

And then I called you a couple weeks ago because I wanted to send you some tickets to Christmas City and to come as my guest. And I asked something, I asked you a question, how's the dialysis going? And then you share the good news, the miracle that you shared with me.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

Definitely a miracle, Ron. We were, again, I was going three days a week, six hours, about five, six hours a day. Great staff there at the Versinius Kennedy Care in D'Iberville. So we're, Keaton and I, my oldest son, we were going to take my mother-in-law, the family, we were going out to eat on March 12th on a Thursday

The Unexpected Call For Two Organs

SPEAKER_00 3:07

night. Kind of, you know, splurge night, steak night. Let's go have a good time talking about our week. And the phone started ringing, and it was a different area code. So I was thinking it was a spam call because I was waiting on a 5-0 area code from Tulane Transplant Institute. So it was a 440 number, which I believe is Cleveland, Ohio. And I kept deleting and deleting and deleting and about six times I said, I better answer this. So it was about 515, and I answered, and the young lady politely asked, said Mr. Cunningham. I said, Yes, ma'am. She says, May I get your birth date? And I said, What a way to start off a conversation. And she said, Well, this is Gina from the National Transplant Institute. Are you ready for a transplant of your liver and kidney? Wow. And this was at 515. And she says, We have a I of course I said, yes, ma'am. And she said, Well, we have a liver and a kidney being transported from Melbourne, Florida as we speak. When can you be at Tulane Transplant Institute? I said, When do you need us there? She said, It's arriving at 8.15. And Ron, we just tears started flowing. Keaton and I didn't know what to do. Our bags were not packed. Hallelujah. And we had to call Mimi, tell her that we can't go to dinner. We're going to New Orleans. So Sandy was still working. We had to get her home. And again, we just started packing. And we got on the road and we arrived there at five after eight at the Tulane

Nineteen Hours In Surgery

SPEAKER_00 4:42

Institute.

Ron Meyers 4:43

So then they admitted you, and within hours you were in surgery.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

They they started uh prepping me about 9 p.m. And the prep takes all night. They're doing MRS, they're doing CAT scans, they're doing blood work. I had no idea I had that blood much blood to give. They do the blood work, doctors come in at the surgeons come in and out, their nurses come in and out. You're you're in you're being introduced to people, you know, so quick, you you can't remember their name 15 minutes later. I had uh four kidney surgeons, I had four liver surgeons, I had a a team of 16 nurses, and of course, you got your anesthesiologist and you know, people that are in there monitoring different different things. So it was about 22, 26 people in the operating room. And then we all met together at 8 o'clock Friday morning, the 13th. And the last time I saw the clock, it was 9.33. And on a Friday morning, and I woke up with my family standing above me about 3 o'clock PM on Sunday afternoon. It was a 19-hour surgery.

Ron Meyers 5:53

I just really don't have any words to say because that's an awesome miracle.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

It was a great miracle.

Living With Gratitude For The Donor

Ron Meyers 6:00

Did you know whose kidneys you got? Or kidney or liver?

SPEAKER_00 6:05

Her family was a young 28-year-old lady in Melbourne, Florida. God bless her. We know that she's gained her wings. She's in heaven. She was hit at a red light. Somebody ran a red light, killed her on impact. She had a one-year-old infant in the backseat who survived and is living with her grandparents, but they the family declined to release the name and the address of the person.

Ron Meyers 6:32

So somebody died to give you life. Yes. That's almost incomprehensible.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Well, we're on what's very rare is when I got on the transplant list in November of 25, the one of the surgeons says, you know, a liver and a kidney at the same time is very rare. That it'll probably be two to three years, Mr. Cunningham. And I got to call in March.

Ron Meyers 6:55

When all this wore off and you're going home and you're sitting alone, just you and Jesus. What was going through your mind?

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Well, you

Finding Purpose And Sharing Faith

SPEAKER_00 7:05

know, we talked earlier about Michael W. Smith, the great artist. And I just asked him, what was the place in my or you know, what is my place in this world? Oh, that was a good song. Yeah. And what is your place in this world? Well, we're I'm still waiting to hear from the world, the word, Ron. I get nits and bits of the word, but the Holy Spirit is speaking to me. Amen. I don't know if we're going to hit again. I'm very emotional.

Ron Meyers 7:32

Amen, brother. That's fine with me. That's I would I'm getting emotional and I didn't even have a transplant.

SPEAKER_00 7:39

You know, do I reach out to youth? Do I reach out to the elderly? I just want to reach the lost.

Ron Meyers 7:45

Well, you're doing it today through this radio show and podcast because this is heard around the world. You know, and I and I think about those steps of being obedient. I felt the Lord tell me years ago to create a show to share the good news of Jesus, brag on what Jesus has done in other people's lives. I've tried to tell people a lot that that one step of faith that I took to create the podcast is like a ripple effect. And here you are today. You've not only listened to the podcast, but when I talked to you, I said, Would you be willing to share your story? So, see, God, the Holy Spirit is weaving all this beautiful things together. And so somebody out there that is struggling, and they say, Wow, that guy is just so lucky. I I wish I had that luck. Well, you you know, what would you tell that person?

SPEAKER_00 8:42

You've got to have faith. You've got to read the good book. It's not, you know, I've I've heard of a saying that, or there's a song out that we have a brand new iPhone, but we got dust on the Bible. Isn't that the truth? And you know, the Bible's not doing anybody no good sitting on that coffee table next to you. You've got to dive into the word, you got to pray the word, and you just got to let the Lord live through you. And he has a calling for you. Maybe you don't know it today, but you know, the drug addict, the alcohol, they can they can get saved just like I did, and reach out to other alcoholics or drug addicts. And again, you just got to dive into the word and you got to have faith that it's coming.

Ron Meyers 9:30

Yep. The one step. Take that step and just make a decision that you're going to make a difference in your life, and then that difference will eventually spill over into somebody else's life. It's like a domino effect. And I'm sure how long is how long ago was the transplant done? Was it this past March? March March 13th. Of 2026. 2026. So I would guess that you probably March, April, May, you know, six months, is it? You probably told someone about this at least once, once a day, maybe twice a day.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

It's it's about once a day.

Ron Meyers 10:06

So, see, those are little seeds of faith that you are planning because I have to believe when people hear that story, they walk away thinking, wow, maybe, maybe I need some more faith. If God did that for Ricky, what could he do for me? And I think we should all ask that because that's what our testimony does. It validates that what we talk about in church or what the Bible says about Jesus is true. He he that's a different course for all of our lives. And obviously, you didn't know when you were a little kid that yeah, you didn't know one day at 56 that your whole life was going to change, or even before that with the dialysis. So, you know, part of life is not knowing what the future is, but knowing who holds our future.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

Right. Well, and I I tell you what's come out of it so far, Ron, is I've I've met a Mr. Lucky Langston, brother Lucky Langston here in Gupport.

Serving Others Through Coaching Devotions

SPEAKER_00 11:00

And Lucky does a devotion for the coaches at the Iberville and Harrison Central High School. And that's my forte is athletics. I've been in athletics all my life, and brother Lucky asked me to come to devotions with him. It's a 12-week plan that we do every semester with Coaches Outreach out of Texas, and it's a uh Bible study and devotion uh for 12 weeks again. And we have FCA. I attend FCA at Harrison Central on Wednesdays under the direction of Coach Casey Whitman, and then I'm back at D'Iberville on Thursday mornings, and we're doing the same devotion. I joined the Gideons after my during my recovery. Amen. And so I attend a Gideon's meeting every Saturday morning for breakfast. And it's just different things that so you know what I think?

Ron Meyers 11:56

I think you found your place in this world. Exactly. You're doing it, brother. Yeah, you're out there encouraging people.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

Yep. So I again I get to, you know, I I see people every day and they want to know my story. They don't know me, but hey, I've I heard about you. And it again, it's not many people in Harrison County, Mississippi or the Gulf Coast that gets an opportunity to get a liver and a kidney and survive and get to live to tell about it.

Encouragement, Church Community, And Prayer

Ron Meyers 12:26

And it's a good transition into somebody died so I could live with a kidney and a liver, but the ultimate sacrifice was Jesus died on that cross to give each of us eternal life that never ends. And one day you'll see that precious little lady that left this world too early, but now she has given you life. Boy, do you ever just sit and think that this kidney and this liver is not even I don't know what would go through my mind.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

I've had a lot of people tease me that you about receiving a female.

Ron Meyers 13:07

Oh, that's true. That's true.

SPEAKER_00 13:10

But yeah, no, it's it it was definitely a blessing. Sandy and I always talk about it would be a dishonest to me, to the Lord, if I didn't take this opportunity and tell people and try to save people at the end that, you know, one day I'm gonna be in heaven, and Ron, I want to take whoever wants to join me. I want to see them in heaven.

Ron Meyers 13:31

Yeah, well, you know, I think now that uh with all this chaos going on in the world and the politics, that the only peace I have I can have is when it's just Jesus and I, when I'm relaxing with Jesus, the Bible, having my conversations with Jesus. And I think sometimes what people are missing by rejecting Jesus. What are they missing?

SPEAKER_00 13:57

They're missing happiness, they're missing the love that their family probably can give them. They're probably not receiving love from their family, and they're not loving their family.

Ron Meyers 14:09

And we have Abba, God, Father, or Father God, that just loves us so much and unconditionally that sometimes we think we have to clean our act up before God will take us. But that's not true, is it?

SPEAKER_00 14:23

That's not true. No. You know, I I hear stories of people that's done a whole lot worse than I have.

Ron Meyers 14:28

Well, that's the whole point of this podcast. I have hundreds of stories, and if you've listened to them, some of them have done some pretty bad things, but today they're serving the Lord and they're ministering to other people.

SPEAKER_00 14:42

And we're going to see them in heaven. Yep. Might not might not know them today, but we'll know them when we get to heaven.

Ron Meyers 14:47

Well, you're doing goodness. Thank you. Thank you for taking time and having me.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

I mean, it's a great invitation. And I can't wait to Christmas City. I can't wait for Christmas. Um I speak a lot about Sandy, and let me tell you, she's a her and the family's been great caregivers. Oh my bad. This is gonna be her reward for the year. I said, baby, you can go to Christmas City and you just spend all you want to.

unknown 15:11

Okay.

Ron Meyers 15:12

I like that. The vendors will like that. I I need to go get a booth and sell something. Oh well, God bless you. Before we go, uh you've got the microphone. Will you just encourage someone and then end us in prayer, please? I sure would.

SPEAKER_00 15:28

And all I gotta say, Ron, is if you're down, Ron's here to talk to you. You know, there's many churches. The church doors are always open. And I just encourage you to find a place in this world. And that and that could be a youth group, it can be a freedom group, but again, find yourself a comfortable church, a praying church of all. Amen, brother. Because the worst things can be happening to you. But if you got people praying for you every day, and again, Brother Lucky in his congregation, Ron, I was getting cards every week. I was getting phone calls every week. I knew that they were praying for Sandy and I and the kids, and we were gonna get out of this storm. Amen. And I really didn't call it a storm. It was just a just a little setback, you know. Well, you look great. Well, thank you. I feel good. If I can get them to quit poking needles in my right hand every Monday, I'll be really well. But yeah, and and don't forget, you got 25-year-old parts in you now.

Ron Meyers 16:29

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 16:31

But again, the churches are always open. Just find your place and give the Lord a chance. Give the Lord a chance. Don't give up on him. Again, unanswered prayers are good prayers. And and you're gonna hear the word and you're gonna receive the Holy Spirit.

Ron Meyers 16:47

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 16:48

And when you receive that Holy Spirit, your life is gonna change dramatically. Forever. Forever. Amen. Yeah. Well, let's pray. Yes, please. Dear Heavenly Father, just we're coming here to thank you for the blessings that you've given us, Lord. And we just thank you for the freedom, Lord, that you've given us by um giving your one and only Son to die for our sins, Lord, on that cross. We just ask you again just to uh take our blessings, Lord, and just lead us in the right direction today, Lord. Lord, and just we just ask for the word. Where's our place in this world nowadays, Lord? And Lord, you have that word for us, Lord, and we just ask you just to give it to us, Lord, and we'll receive it boldly. Lord, again, just thank you for this beautiful day, Lord. They're crisp in the air, the birds are chirping, and everything, everything that we see, Lord, that you've given us. You've given us that, Lord. This is your world, Lord, and this is your time, Lord. And we just love to spend time with you today, Lord. We just ask things in your name we pray. Amen.