Article from Unnamed Police Department

This is the article I was telling you about! 

Crime Analyst Honors Detective With Donation!

By Danny Veith

You may recall, in the July 2010 issue of POWER, the piece I wrote concerning Detective Ed David’s need for a kidney.  In that issue I discussed Ed’s need for an O+ donor, then guessed 500 Denver PD officers must be O+. I wrote how Ed needed a donor who was not overweight,  hypertensive, diabetic, or had a family history of kidney disease (thus whittling the eligible officers down to maybe 100).  My hope was these hundred officers would contact Porter Hospital, go through the testing, and maybe 10 would be identified as near perfect matches. My dream, in that issue of POWER, involved Ed getting a kidney in addition to 9 others on the waiting list.  Wouldn’t it be great, I thought, if Ed received a kidney, got better, followed by 9 others, and all in his honor!

Upon reading my article last July, a DPD civilian, Crime Analyst Laura Altobelli, contacted Porter Hospital and began the process to donate a kidney to Ed. Laura subjected herself to blood work, an EKG, chest x-ray, and CT scan, in addition to interviews and exams by the transplant nurse coordinator, a psychologist, surgeon, nephrologist, and dietician.

The Porter Transplant Center  eventually convened a panel to identify the best donor match for Detective Ed David. Laura was not selected. Undeterred, Laura informed the transplant center she

wanted to be retained as a donor candidate.  In the weeks that followed, the center attempted to match Laura with several people on the kidney waiting list.  Then in January, Laura was informed of a match and a surgery date was set!

Laura Altobelli

So my wish for 9 people (on a kidney waiting list) receiving a kidney in honor of Detective Ed David has been reduced now to 8 because of Laura.

All my thoughts from last summer are now eclipsed by Laura’s new designation:  “Good Samaritan Donor!” Also  known as an “Altruistic Donor,” this type of donation involves giving to someone who is not so well known to you, or even a stranger.

Obviously we all need healthy kidneys to survive. Our kidneys control the amount of water in our body and filter urea and other wastes into urine. High blood pressure (hypertension) and diabetes

can lead to kidney failure. And others endure disease, such as polycystic kidney disease - or  “PKD” - as was the case with Detective Ed David.

At any given time, there are about 55,000 people on a list for a new kidney.  While waiting on the list, most end up on dialysis and about 3,000 die each year. There are about 14,000 kidney transplants performed each year. Two thirds of these transplants involve deceased (cadaver) donors; the remaining one third are from living donors.

When a person receives a kidney from a living donor, there is no waiting period (and dialysis can be avoided). Patients who receive a kidney from a living donor, without having to first begin dialysis, almost always fare better. Living donation also allows the donor and recipient to schedule surgery at a convenient time. And a kidney, from a living donor, works sooner and better, and lasts longer than a kidney from a deceased person.

With all the benefits of living donation, you can see why the majority of living donors are made up of family members and close friends. But Laura Altobelli is the exception, that is she donated to a

stranger, and that’s what makes altruistic or Good Samaritan donation so special!  There are about 1350 people in Colorado awaiting a kidney. Based on the 2010 Census, there are just over 5 million people living in Colorado. If less than 1% of our state’s population became a living donor, Colorado’s waiting list would end. If just a handful of Coloradoans followed Laura’s example, the need for suffering and being chained to a dialysis machine would be a thing of the past for our citizens enduring kidney failure.

So in Detective Ed David’s honor, and because of Laura Altobelli’s extraordinary gift, a Colorado citizen from the Grand Junction area has a new lease on life! On Monday, January 24th, Laura had a chance to briefly meet with him, followed by a telephone conversation.  Albert is 56 years old, a Native American, and served in the military during the final years of the Vietnam war. He told Laura the reality of finally receiving a kidney (to get him off of dialysis and to return to the person he was before kidney failure) is as exciting to him as when his son was born.

The surgery took place the  following day, on January 25th, and was successful.  Laura’s right kidney kicked in immediately, allowing Albert to begin his journey to health and independence.  Laura was able to go home the following day on her road to recovery.

Sadly, Laura recently accepted a job with the State, so she will not be returning to DPD. But in addition to all her positive contributions to DPD, and the friends she made here, Laura will be remembered as a Samaritan Donor!

Thanks, Laura, for honoring Ed in such a special way and being a great example to us all!