Pittsburgh police officer to receive living kidney donation

Pittsburgh police Officer Jeffrey Crawford is scheduled to receive a living kidney donation next month after about two years of dialysis treatment.

The city held a ceremony on Tuesday recognizing Crawford and his kidney donor Sonya Brown. Pittsburgh officials and representatives from the National Kidney Foundation credited Crawford for helping spread awareness about kidney health and organ donation.

Crawford, a local teacher who has served on the police force for about three decades, is “a dedicated police officer” who has seldom missed a day of work, even during dialysis treatments, said Holly Turkovic, director of outreach with the National Kidney Foundation.

Crawford annually delivers Thanksgiving meals to people in need, she said. He dresses up as Santa Claus around the holidays.

Crawford filled in for a fellow officer over the summer to work on a detail at a local church. There, he met Brown after the pastor led the congregation in a prayer for him.

“She told me that God told her that she’s going to be my donor,” Crawford said.

Within a few months, Brown had undergone the necessary testing and confirmed that she would indeed be a living kidney donor for the officer.

“It was so amazing,” Crawford said.

On average, Crawford said, it can take up to about six years for a person to receive a kidney donation. He had been waiting for about two years.

“I didn’t know it would be so fast, within two years,” he said.

Turkovic said she’s hopeful Crawford and Brown’s story will encourage people to educate themselves about kidney health and consider becoming organ donors.

Kidney disease impacts 37 million Americans, said Erin Tuladzieck, executive director of the region’s National Kidney Foundation team.

“The need for greater awareness and prevention measures of kidney disease within the general public is desperately needed,” she said.

Risk factors for kidney disease include diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and heart disease, she said. Minority populations are four times more likely to have kidney failure.

According to Tuladzieck, there are 88,000 Americans currently waiting for a kidney transplant. Nearly 30% of those people will receive a kidney this year, with about a third of them receiving a kidney from a living donor.

Volunteers from the city, including several members of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, joined Crawford and representatives from the National Kidney Foundation Wednesday in assembling 200 patient care bags, which will be delivered to Dialysis Clinic, Inc., where Crawford receives his dialysis treatment.