After weeks in ICU battling heart and kidney failure, longtime WSM Radio host and Grand Ole Opry announcer Bill Cody is facing a double transplant—heart and kidney—for survival. His daughter Hannah says he has passed tests to qualify, but his condition worsene
For weeks, the ICU has been a cycle for Bill Cody—tests, dialysis, medications, and sudden turns that his family has learned to dread and brace for. Now, the longtime WSM Radio host and Grand Ole Opry announcer is at a point where survival depends on a procedure he never expected to face.
Cody’s daughter. Hannah. shared that her father has been in the ICU for about three weeks. dealing with heart and kidney failure. After what she described as a roller-coaster stretch—“After weeks of being on a roller coaster of emotions. tests. dialysis. medications. steps forwards and steps backwards”—doctors determined earlier this week that his only option for survival would be a double transplant: a heart transplant and a kidney transplant.
She said Cody has passed the necessary tests to qualify for the transplant list. But over the weekend, his heart strength and ability to pump blood took a turn for the worse. Doctors intubated Cody to place him on an ECMO machine, a step Hannah says is now shaping what comes next.
Her request for prayers is specific, tied to what doctors need to avoid and what his body needs to get through.
Hannah said the family is asking for prayers for the following:
No stroke, blood clots or infections.
The next 48 hours on ECMO, which she said gives his body time to rest so it can gain strength and remain in transplant qualification.
A transplant candidate found to get Cody onto the list.
“We need a miracle and we know God is able,” Hannah said. “Please, if you’re able, stop and pray for these things. Our family can’t thank you enough. We love you all.”
Cody has been a familiar voice to listeners for years. honored as a Hall-of-Famer and seen onstage as part of the Grand Ole Opry. In 2019. a photo captured him during a Grand Ole Opry performance at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on Thursday. June 13. 2019. in Manchester. Tenn. His family now is asking the same community that knew his voice to lift him through another fragile stretch—one that. by Hannah’s description. could hinge on what happens in the ICU in the coming two days.
Bill Cody WSM Radio Grand Ole Opry announcer ICU ECMO double transplant heart transplant kidney transplant Hannah Cody prayers
Prayers up. That ECMO thing sounds terrifying, hope he gets a miracle.
Wait so he needs a heart AND kidney transplant after being on the machine? I’m not even sure how that works, but if doctors say it’s the only option then yeah… best case he’ll be ok.
I saw “ICU setback” and immediately thought it was just the hospital messing around, like they do with everyone. But then it says stroke/clots/infections to avoid, which makes me scared for him. Hope the dialysis didn’t mess him up or something.
Dude I used to listen to WSM on my way to work. I don’t even really know him personally but hearing heart and kidney failure then “ECMO” on top of it… that’s a lot. Why is it only turning worse over the weekend? Like did something happen during transport or what. Anyway I’ll pray for no clots, no stroke, no infection, whatever they’re trying to dodge in the next 48 hours.