“He’s my friend, I didn’t want to see him go, so I did what I wanted to do.'
TOLEDO, Ohio - First responders are sworn to protect people’s lives. When fellow officers found out one of their own was in kidney failure, it was a different call to duty, but it was one they had no question about answering.
Ohio State Highway Patrol Bowling Green Post Commander Matt Geer was discharged from the hospital to a round of applause from friends, family, and fellow officers. The cheers were also for the man walking beside Matt, another member of the first responder family: Rossford Police Officer Michael Shaffer, the person who gave Matt the kidney.Matt has Alport syndrome, a genetic disorder that impacts the kidneys. “Most people need a transplant before they’re 20-years-old and they receive multiple transplants throughout their life,” Matt said. In November, Matt went into kidney failure, so at 43-years-old, he was looking for a kidney donation. Susan Rees, the Chief Operating Officer of the Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation heard about Matt’s story through Ohio State Rep. Haraz Ghanbari . Rees reached out to Matt and began looking for a match. “In the United States, we have about 100,000 people waiting for a kidney and this year we’re only going to transplant about 25,000,” Rees said. It can be difficult to find a donor, and the Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation works to save lives by finding the right match. Geer said 14 Ohio-based first responders volunteered to get tested to see if they were Matt’s match. If they weren’t his match, they would volunteer to donate to someone else. “Doesn’t matter what uniform you wear, what your hat is, your badge, it doesn’t matter what you look like, we’re all here to do the same job and that’s to help people and help each other,” Matt said.“We had one doctor say that his blood was so closely related to mine, we’re brothers without being technically brothers, which is amazing,” Matt said. Their brotherhood in service transcended to a brotherhood in life. Had Matt not received a transplant, he would have been at risk of going on dialysis. “It’s actually really hard on your body, 50% of people will die within in five years, that’s worse than breast cancer,” said Michael Rees, a transplant surgeon at the University of Toledo Medical Center, about dialysis. “But if you can get a kidney transplant, people who get a kidney transplant live 10 years longer than if they stayed on dialysis, so it’s definitely the best care if you’ve developed kidney disease.”“Police officers are always trying to save our lives, but it’s really cool that we had two police officers that got to save each other’s lives,” Dr. Rees said. Matt and Michael urged people to see if they could get tested to see if they are a match for a life-saving organ donation. “I would do it again, I only have one more to give and I can’t give that one again apparently, so I’m stuck, I’m all out, but somebody else can step up as much as I did and take care of it and help somebody else as well,” Michael said. Matt and Michael are discharged from the hospital and recovering from surgery. They are both excited to return to their posts once they are able.Fentanyl found inside Barbies sold at discount store, police sayRepairs on massive downtown Cleveland sinkhole could take several more weeksFrom Someone Who Knows: Father of one of the Cleveland daughters buried in suitcases speaks out
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