Kristina Moon brought the Fire-Rescue International 2024 Friday morning general session attendees to their feet – and to tears – as she shared the story of her husband, Billy Moon.
Billy was a 21-year member of the FDNY, as well as a 28-year volunteer in the Islip Fire Department, where he served as volunteer chief from 2016-2018. Similar to the refrain many of us use, Billy routinely talked about firefighting as “the greatest job in the world.”
On Dec. 12, 2022, FDNY Firefighter Moon was preparing for a training exercise inside the fire station, in the quarters of Rescue 2, Brooklyn. Billy fell approximately 20 feet, hitting his head on the floor. Although he was treated immediately at the station, Billy would not recover.
On Dec. 20, 2022, several of Billy’s organs were donated to others in need, per his wishes in the event of his death.
Becoming an organ donor
In her address to the FRI audience, Kristina shared how, through her experience after Billy’s death, she learned that over 100,000 patients are on the organ donation waiting lists, and that an average of 17 of those pass away every day. She ultimately formed the Billy Moon Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3), to help spread the word about organ donation and to develop family services for donor families.
As part of her work with the foundation, Kristina also works to simplify the process of signing up to become a donor. In her presentation, she lamented the disparity in the sign-up steps. Speaking to the motor vehicle registration method specifically, she found that some states require you to check a box to opt IN, while others require you to check a box to opt OUT of the donation program. She is working to bring consistency to that process and to increase the number of people, especially firefighters, willing to become organ donors.
Kristina shared the foundation goals to reach 10,000 people in face-to-face presentations during 2024, to expand donor family services in 2025, and to be in a position to pay for some family funeral services by 2026.
Billy lives on
Moon’s organs were donated to five individuals, including two retired FDNY firefighters. FDNY Lieutenant Terrence Jordan received Moon’s lungs, and FDNY Captain Patrick Reynolds received his liver. It was the story of Billy’s heart donation to 63-year-old Richard Grehl that brought many in the FRI audience to tears.
Kristina explained how one of the organ-matching-criteria included something she had not considered, in that the donor and recipient needed to be close to the same height. Billy was a tall man, standing 6’4”. They were happy to learn that a matching patient on the waiting list was ready to receive a new heart. The 6’3” Grehl had experienced three heart attacks, with the last one leaving him near death. It was Billy’s heart that would help Grehl turn the corner.
Kristina told how she, her kids and other family members met with Mr. Grehl, and how she was somewhat stunned and shaken at the first sight, as she saw a man that was nearly the same height and size as Billy, with Billy’s heart, walk around the corner. In a moving opportunity, the family all took turns listening to Grehl’s (Billy’s) heartbeat with a stethoscope. Even more moving was the kids’ request to record the heartbeat so they could always hear their dad. Not only did they record the heartbeat, but they also intended to insert the recording into a Build-A-Bear so they could always have a little bit of their father with them.
In December 2023, the IAFF helped Kristina bring the recipients and family together through a conference call. Read more from the IAFF: The William “Billy” Moon Foundation: Pioneering efforts to save lives through organ donation.
Endless love
Kristina said, “Loving Billy was not only a marriage of families but a marriage to the fire department. His love and passion for the job extended far from the firehouse walls.” It was so moving to hear Kristina talk about Billy’s love for the job and his family – and the commitment to organ donation. It was his final heroic act to allow his organs to help five others live. It was through this act that Billy indeed became a “forever hero.”
Read more about Moon’s story:
