Bob Redman, a 35-year NASA Langley employee, describes his former coworker, Henry Chambers, as his “Hercules.” According to Greek mythology, Prometheus was sentenced to a punishment that decimated his liver, day after day, until Hercules came to his rescue. Likewise, when Bob Redman discovered he was in need of a liver transplant this past January, Chambers, his own “Hercules,” didn’t hesitate to save his former coworker.
The pair met while working at the National Transonic Facility (NTF) at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, throughout the 1990s. Chambers was contracted as a maintenance technician, and Redman worked as an electrician. After a number of years working together at the NTF, Henry transitioned to working as a licensed massage therapist, and Tracey Redman, Bob’s wife and a 32-year NASA employee herself, became one of Chambers’ clients. During one of their sessions, he learned of Bob Redman’s health issues, and without hesitation, offered to undergo testing to see if he would be a suitable donor for his friend and former coworker.
Chambers’ test results quickly moved him to the front of the line, and over the course of the next several months, he prepared to serve as Redman’s living donor. “Bob is such a beautiful human being,” Chambers said, “that he literally had a line of people who would do this for him. I felt that if I was at the front of the line, I was at the front of the line by some greater choice, some greater power.”
The pair underwent the transplant on August 1, 2022 at the VCU Medical Center, with Chambers donating 57% of his liver, and both are now recovering well. Of his “Hercules,” Redman says “(There are) no words to describe this man, just a selfless, wonderful human being.”
Chambers hopes that others will follow suit; that his and Redman’s story will bring awareness to organ donation. “Even just checking organ donation on your driver’s license,” he says, “that’s all (transplant patients) need, is one opportunity.”
