Georgia officer who received kidney to appear on Dr. OZ

GREENSBORO, Ga. — The Georgia police officer who received a new kidney is back on the job just eight weeks after his transplant.

Greensboro police detective Raleigh Callaway was in stage 5 kidney failure when a photo of his daughters' went viral on social media. The photos, taken by Brandy Angel, showed Braleigh and Delaini Callaway holding a sign that read, "Our Daddy Needs a Kidney." When we posted the photos on the WSB-TV Facebook page, they were shared more than 45,000 times.

Just weeks later, a man in Texas saw Callaway's story and stepped forward to donate his kidney. 

"When I saw Raleigh's story, saw pictures of the girls and everything, and it hit me," said Carroll. "That's what kind of surprised me a little bit, there was never a doubt. I mean, it's like if my own dad needed a kidney -- that's how strongly I felt."

At the time, Chris Carroll was a complete stranger. But in the months since they first met, Callaway and Carroll have become more like brothers.

"Raleigh's my brother now, and I consider them part of my family now," said Carroll.

Callaway spent weeks recovering from the transplant, which took place in September.  He is now doing well and back at work, making the most of his new lease on life.

“Him being able to go back to work is what really set the tone for our new life,” said Callaway’s wife Kristi. “Everyone was so excited to see him.”

During the process, Kristi created a Facebook page to keep family and friends updated on his progress. But as thousands of people liked the page, Kristi realized she could do a lot more and use the page to help others in need of a kidney.

“Everyone that’s been involved, we have all agreed that we want to spend the rest of our life using every opportunity we have to raise awareness and encourage someone to research living donors,” she said.

Kristi and Brandy Angel decided to form the organization Callaway's Angels. Each week the group showcases the story of a person in need of a kidney transplant.

“I feel blessed and just want to help advocate for other people to help themselves,” said Kristi. “There are so many people in need.”

They started with a 56-year-old named Bret Reiff. They’ve since shared stories of mothers, fathers, grandmothers, teachers and many more. Kristi says she’s been amazed by the continued response by the community.

“People continue to let us know that they want to help in the same way Chris helped our family,” she said. “As long as people continue to respond, people are going to be helped.”

The organization featured the story of a man named Randy Daniel, who reached out to Channel 2 for help. Daniel has lived on dialysis for years. At just 15 years old, he learned his kidney weren’t functioning properly. They later learned he suffered from Polycystic Kidney Disease, or PKD. In 2002, he received a kidney from his cousin, but after contracting West Nile from a simple mosquito bite, the transplant failed.

“I can’t help but feel that I am less of a man because I can no longer provide for my family, and my kidney failure has placed extreme pressure on my wife,” Daniel posted on the Facebook page.

Daniel, who is blood type O+, is on the transplant list at Piedmont Hospital. See his post here for more information.

Callaway’s Angels is about to celebrate a success story. Natalie Pignataro, an Atlanta kindergarten teacher, was featured on the website on Nov. 3. Now, a total stranger has stepped up to donate to her on Dec. 9 in paired exchange with her cousin.

“There are so many people that are willing to give and I think it really helped that our story was shared so often,” said Kristi.

Callaway and Carroll are now planning to share their story on a national platform in an effort to raise more awareness for living donor transplants. The two men, along with Kristi will appear on the Dr. Oz show on Channel 2 on Tuesday at 3 p.m.

“Raleigh has DVR’d the Dr. Oz show,” said Kristi. “It’s one of the things that helped him stay off dialysis.

She says they chose the Dr. Oz show because they felt it was the best route to reach out to thousands of people from a medical standpoint.

“There’s a lot of information that can be given to a lot of people who are in a very different place dealing with kidney disease and I think it really helps to be able to put a person’s face and name with a living donor,” she said.

WSBTV