NYPD Officer Vadrien Alston one step closer to finding kidney donor thanks to Brooklyn native's selfless act
NEW YORK -- Last year, we introduced you to a police officer from Brooklyn in Stage 5 renal failure, desperately searching for a kidney donor, and now, months later, our story is helping her find a match.
We first met NYPD Officer Vadrien Alston in December. The Brooklyn mother of two had just found out her kidney was failing and she told CBS2's Ali Bauman she needed a new one.
"I'm just patiently waiting," Alston said at the time.
READ MORE: NYPD Reaching Out Across City To Find Potential Organ Donors
That story aired around the country, including in Maryland, where Brooklyn native Sophia Jackson happened to be traveling for work.
"I turned on the news ... There was just something about Vadrien's story at the end that just, just her demeanor, I guess," Jackson said.
Jackson called the National Kidney Registry and told them she wanted to donate an organ to a woman she never met.
"How soon did you make your decision that this was something you definitely wanted to do?" Bauman asked.
"Almost immediately ... I got plenty of people in my life help me, and even though it's not to this degree, if I can help, why not?" Jackson said.
The moment the kidney registry told Alston that someone stepped forward was caught on video.
"That's gotta be one of the most wonderful feelings, to know that someone is doing such a selfless act to try to help someone that they don't know," Alston told Bauman.
Right now, there are more than 97,000 people in the United States waiting for a kidney donation, and the average wait time is eight to ten years.
"It's a wonderful feeling to know that you have someone out there that is willing to make such a selfless act to give someone else an opportunity to live a long life," Alston said.
But it turned out, Jackson was not a match.
"She told me, 'If you still wanted to help, we can do that. Is that something you want to do?' And I said absolutely," she said.
Jackson is able to donate her kidney on the officer's behalf.
This week, New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center transferred her kidney to someone else on the waiting list, saving their life and also moving Alston up on the list. Now, instead of waiting 10 years, Alston hopes to have a new kidney in just a couple months.
"This young lady, she was at the right place at the right time. She seen what you aired and she felt it in her heart to, once seeing what you aired on the television, that, you know what, this is something I could actually do," Alston said.
"If you can save one life, why not?" Jackson said.
The women have not met yet, but hope to once Alston has her surgery.
"I would love to say thank you. I would love to have her meet my family as well, so that way they could see the person that helped save their mom's life," Alston said.
"I just wanna give her a hug," Jackson said.
It took 10 months, two different states and one kidney, but now Alston is one step closer to finding her match.
For more information on becoming a living donor, visit kidneyregistry.org.
