NEW ORLEANS – Nearly 100,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant. Nearly 8,000 die each year just waiting for a kidney alone. But one man did what few people do: gave his kidney to a complete stranger. And the two recently met. Last June an Okaloosa County, Florida sheriff's deputy needed help. A genetic disorder called polycystic kidney disease brought Johnnie Briggs' kidney's down to 10 percent capacity. He was on dialyses. No relatives or friends were a match, so his girlfriend Kim sent out an e-mail blast hoping a stranger would answer the call. "Maybe they can say 'Hey, I heard about the deputy in Okaloosa County that needs a kidney,' " said Johnnie's girlfriend Kim Thompson, back in June. Johnnie was up in the western part of the panhandle. Way down in the middle of Florida, nearly 500 miles away, a captain in the detention department of the Polk County, Florida sheriff's office, a complete stranger, opened that e-mail. "This was one of the easiest decisions I've ever made in my life," said kidney donor Rick Hohl. Anonymously, Rick Hohl went through all the medical evaluations. But a month went by with no word if he was compatible. "I'm waiting, I'm praying, I'm waiting, I'm praying, I'm waiting and waiting and waiting and like okay, I got to call and I call and like you're a match. Best day of my life," Hohl exclaims. Tuesday Johnnie, 46, and Rick, 50, were wheeled into separate O.R.'s at Tulane so surgeons could perform the lifesaving transplant. Rick explained why he stepped forward. "I'm a Christian," he said crying. "And I just want to make a difference." "Probably more in love with him today than as we were as kids," his wife Terri said proudly. "Living donation is such a noble gift and one of the advantages for the recipient is the kidneys work better. They have less chance of complication and the most important reason is they last about twice as long as a dead person's kidney," explained Dr. Anil Paramesh, a Tulane transplant surgeon. Then on Friday, he and his wife of 25 years, took the long walk down the Tulane Hospital halls to meet Johnnie and his family. "Hey guys," shouted Rick as he walked in the hospital room crying as he hugged Johnnie. Johnnie had seen Rick around the hospital earlier that week. One look and he knew this was a member of the law enforcement brotherhood, but did not know this was his donor. "You just tell, the discipline, the way they carry themselves. I can just tell," said Johnnie through tears. Johnnie's daughter, Christina, who is only in her early 20s, has the same kidney disease and one day will need the same kind of transplant. “It's kind of hard to like see your father and know that's going to be you one day, but to be able to know my dad is going to have a better life because of some stranger," said Christina Riley. "I love you guys more than I could ever tell you," said Rick after he read a heartfelt note out loud from Christina. A person only needs about half of one kidney for full function. A living donor kidney can last up to 12 to 14 years.
