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Home » Life » This Article

SDPD Dispatcher’s Kidney Donation Delayed to Cop Due to Possible Organ Rejection

Posted by Debbie L. Sklar on February 7, 2018 in Life | 36 Views
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Art Calvert and Debra Ballard
Art Calvert and Debra Ballard. Image from NBC San Diego broadcast

A heartwarming story that was supposed to end Wednesday with a longtime San Diego Police Department dispatcher donating her kidney to a longtime SDPD officer was derailed at the last minute over concerns the ailing officer’s body would reject the new organ.

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Art Calvert, who for decades has suffered from renal kidney disease, has been waiting almost two years for a third organ donor. His mother and sister have each already given him a kidney.

During an emotional news conference last week, Calvert and dispatcher Debra Ballard, who worked together for a time as part of the department’s Northern Division, talked about the decision. Calvert said he was “just overwhelmed” that Ballard would make such a serious sacrifice for him, and do so with such aplomb.

“She calls me, just as cool as can be, saying, `Hey, I’m a match — when do you want to do this?,” the officer told reporters last week outside downtown SDPD headquarters.

“As a spiritual person, I believe everything happens for a reason,” Ballard said at the same news conference. “If I can save his life, why would I not?”

In explaining her weighty decision, Ballard said the nature of dispatchers’ duties creates a kind of  “maternal instinct” that makes them “just want to take care” of people.

After deciding she wanted to give a lifesaving gift to the officer, Ballard underwent extensive testing that ultimately deemed her an organ-donor match — or so they both thought.

But on Tuesday, Calvert took to Facebook to inform friends and family that a last-minute blood test “turned up a positive reaction to my blood and we will not be able to do the transplant due to possible rejection.”

“So I am back at square one,” Calvert wrote. “I’m a little bummed right now so give me a few days to get my smile back. I will be fine and want to say I’m overwhelmed with all of your posts today. Sorry I let you all down. But I will be back stronger than ever. It’s all in God’s hands.”

 —City News Service

SDPD Dispatcher’s Kidney Donation Delayed to Cop Due to Possible Organ Rejection was last modified: February 7th, 2018 by Debbie L. Sklar

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Posted in Life | Tagged Debra Ballard, delayed, dispatcher, donation, kidney, organ, SDPD, SDPD Officer Art Calvert
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