FERNDALE (AP) — A Ferndale judge said he owes his life to a co-worker who donated a kidney to him.
Oakland County 43rd District Court Judge Joseph Longo had finished another session of kidney dialysis when Linda Carroll, his court administrator, walked into his office and offered to donate a kidney, the Daily Tribune reported.
“That was probably one of the most special moments of my life,” said Carroll, who didn’t expect the judge’s speechless reaction. “He kept saying he couldn’t believe I would do this and there were tears in his eyes.”
Longo said he nearly fell out of his chair after hearing the offer, adding that he couldn’t describe “how you feel when someone offers you life.”
Longo’s brothers wanted to help and donate their kidney, but their tissue samples were not a match. Carroll, however, was nearly a perfect match with the judge.
Carroll made the decision and talked to her family after researching the judge’s condition.
“The doctors were amazed,” Carroll said. “I truly think it was meant to be.”
The 61-year-old judge entered a kidney donor program through the University of Wisconsin after his kidneys were damaged by a medication he took for an infection.
“The chance of me getting a cadaver kidney was so exceedingly small,” he said. “The wait would be seven years, if I lived that long.”
Longo and Carroll returned to work several weeks after their surgeries in July.
“I want people to know how rewarding it is to save somebody’s life,” Carroll said. “I think more people would do it if they knew about it.”
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