DAVIE, FLA. (WSVN) - Two Miami-Dade Police officers are back on duty after one donated their kidney to the other.
Officer German Alech was suffering from a genetic condition and needed a new kidney when his fellow officer, Diana Castillo, offered her own. Doctors successfully performed the kidney transplant, Aug. 31., and now both officers are working again full time.
“Right away after the surgery, I felt great and just, little by little, I got to feel better and better and better,” Alech.
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Castillo said she learned about Alech’s condition from a memo, and immediately wanted to help.
“They kept asking me, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?'” Castillo said. “I’m like, ‘Can we get this done already, stop.'”
The two officers didn’t know each other well before the surgery, but after the transplant, they’ll be connected forever.
“German and I were just friends on the department. We see each other, ‘Hi, Hi, Hi,’ never really worked together except for extra duties. We never had the same assignment,” Castillo said, “so it’s just when I saw the memo that he needed help, I reached out and helped.”
At Miami-Dade Police headquarters, their colleagues welcomed them back.
When asked what he wanted to say to Castillo, Alech said, “Publicly, I won’t say anything,” and hugged Castillo.
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