Two first responders who were strangers are now forever connected — not by their jobs, but by a selfless organ donation.
New York City Police Sgt. Christopher Romero said he “started experiencing symptoms after receiving blood work” in 2020.
“Then it was just like a … steady downhill turn with my health,” he said.
Romero’s kidneys were failing. So he went on dialysis.
“It’s like when you get a crack in your windshield — starts out very small and then progressively it gets bigger. And then as it gets bigger, it goes very rapidly. So it got really bad last year,” Romero explained.
What Romero didn’t know at the time was that his second chance at life stood with a college student across the country at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Lucas Gorelick said he started doing research into organ donation after meeting someone with a kidney transplant.
“From there, I kind of asked myself if there was a first responder-to-first responder database,” the college junior, who is also an EMT, said.
He came across the organization Kidneys for Communities, a national nonprofit that helps connect potential donors to a community that they care about at no cost to the donor.
Around the same time, a fellow officer told Romero to set up a profile.
“I read his bio and something about it, just, it stuck out to me,” Gorelick said. “I was like, ‘You know what? I’ll get tested.'”
They were a match.
“People told me I was crazy. There were times throughout the process that I had second thoughts,” Gorelick admitted. “I did a risk-reward in my head and I said, ‘This is someone who needs it right now, who’s not doing well, and I can help.'”
In December, Gorelick underwent a six-hour surgery during his holiday break that gave Romero his life back.
“He’s literally an angel and there should be a special place in heaven for him,” Romero said of Gorelick. “Thanks to Lucas … I can live my life.”
The two first responders met for the first time a few weeks ago in New York City.
“We’re connected for life. This is like my brother from another mother literally,” Romero said.