Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders says he and his wife Stacey are taking recovery “day by day” after their kidney transplant procedure was completed on Monday.
“On behalf of my wife Stacey and I, I would like to offer our gratitude for the well wishes, prayers and messages of support we have received over the last several days,” a statement from the chief released Friday said. “Our surgery took place as scheduled on Monday, Oct. 2 and we continue to take our recovery day to day.”
Last month, Saunders revealed that he was born with only one functioning kidney and it started to fail more than a year ago.
He underwent as much as eight hours of dialysis each night for months prior to the transplant simply to stay alive.
While waiting on a donors’ list, Saunders’ wife Stacey took a suitability test and was found to be match for him.
She told CTV News Toronto last week “there was no thinking” and she immediately decided to give her husband one of her kidneys.
“Thank you, especially, to those who have shared their own transplant story with us. Your encouraging words have meant a lot as we take this journey together.”
The pair say that instead of flowers or other gifts, donations should be made to their favourite charities, including the United Way, Victim Services Toronto, Special Olympics Ontario, Children’s Breakfast Club, Covenant House, or The Good Neighbours’ Club.
Deputy Chief Jim Ramer was named acting chief of the service while Mark and Stacey recover.
Recovery from a kidney transplant procedure generally takes six to eight weeks.
