
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
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