Cop makes emergency organ delivery after SUV crash

PHILADELPHIA -- Police officers see a lot in the line of duty. But one cop probably never thought he’d end up helping to save a life in Philadelphia - just by driving his car, CBS Philadelphia reports. 

While patrolling in a town in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County in the snow last Saturday, Sgt. Darrick Kepley happened across a one-car crash near the Pennsylvania Turnpike, southwest of Reading.

“The wheel was lying next to the car,” Kepley said. “It was actually broken off from where they hit the raised curbing.”

Normally, he’d write it up and call a tow truck. But this was a special “delivery.” The SUV was carrying a team of doctors and a critical cargo.

“A transplant team,” Kepley explained. “A liver and kidneys from York Hospital to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.”

There was not a moment to waste, with the liver recipient already on the operating room table, 70 miles away in Center City.

“So I turned on the lights and siren and we headed down the Turnpike to the Schuylkill [Expressway] and made it there,” Kepley said.

“I think realizing what the donor and the donor’s family was going through or went through and knowing that the person in Philly was going to have a second chance, I figured it was time to go,” Kepley said.

The doctors got to the hospital in time, and the surgery was a success. 

Kepley said he’s glad he was in the right place at the right time, even though his fellow officers were hoping he’d return with some precious cargo.

“Everybody was looking for cheesesteaks,” he said, “but because of the roads I decided just to head back. Saving it for next time.”