An Arlington police officer is now a personal hero to three families, not because he solved a crime, but because he gave them a special gift that has changed their lives forever.
It all started about a year ago, when Detective Josh Gowins came across a post on Facebook.
"There were pictures that a father had taken of the back of his truck, which said my son needs a kidney," said Gowins.
During a news conference Friday, he said those images stayed with him. And so he began doing research on kidney transplants.
“I was pretty ignorant of what people with kidney disease and people on dialysis go through until I started researching it," said Gowins. "I think that really helped me make my decision.”
After talking it over with his wife, he came to Plaza Medical Center of Fort Worth and told them he wanted to donate one of his kidneys to someone who could use it. He found out that list is a long one.
“There are more than 100,000 patients waiting for a life-saving transplant," said Dr. Sridhar Allam, a Transplant Nephrologist at Plaza Medical Center of Fort Worth, and a member of the team that oversaw Gowin's donation.
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The transplant team at the medical center was eager to work with him and gave him some unexpected news -- his one kidney was going to help three families.
“Having altruistic or good Samaritan donors like Josh will help start chains like this," said Allam. "It's very exciting."
Gowins' kidney went to a female patient. Her husband, who was not a match for her, then agreed to donate one of his kidneys to a young man. And finally that young man's brother, who was not a match for him, offered to donate one of his kidneys to another stranger.
That young man, 20-year-old Alonso Ruvalcaba, released a brief video message through the medical center.
"It should be a lot better than than the life I'm living right now," he said with a smile on his face.
That's all Gowins needed to hear.
"It was a small price to pay -- a few weeks of discomfort -- to give someone their life back," said Gowins.
Doctors at the medical center say the transplants could add at least ten more years to each recipient's life.
Gowins now encourages everyone to register as an organ donor.
