Cop Makes Emergency Organ Delivery To Transplant Patient After Crash
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Police officers see a lot in the line of duty. But one Lancaster County cop probably never thought he'd end up helping to save a life in Philadelphia -- just by driving his car.
While patrolling in East Cocalico Township in the snow last Saturday, Sergeant 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, call a tow truck. But this was a special 'delivery.'
"A transplant team," Kepley explained. "A liver and kidneys from York Hospital to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital,"
READ: CDC Outlines New Recommendations For Teenagers Receiving HPV Vaccine
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.
With time to spare.
"I heard that the surgery was a success," he said.
Sgt. Kepley says 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."