Chicago police chief's son to donate kidney to father: media

[August 31, 2017]  CHICAGO (Reuters) - The 25-year-old son of Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson donated one of his kidneys to his father in a life-saving transplant surgery on Wednesday, local media reported.

Daniel Johnson agreed to be his 57-year-old father's donor when he learned his own kidney was a match, the Chicago Tribune said. The simultaneous surgeries took place at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, according to the media reports.

"I just feel like no one's going to take care of my parents the way I would," the younger Johnson told the Tribune. "So if you want something done right, you do it yourself."

The operation to transplant a kidney into the elder Johnson was a success and he is conscious and comfortable, Rush University Medical Center said in a statement.

The hospital's statement did not identify the kidney donor. "Everything went smoothly and as expected for both donor and recipient," it added.

After nearly fainting in January, the police superintendent said he suffered from a chronic kidney ailment that requires a transplant. He expected to return to work following the surgery.

He told reporters at the time that the light-headedness he felt during an earlier news conference was the result of taking blood pressure medication on an empty stomach.

Video of the incident showed that Johnson, standing alongside Mayor Rahm Emanuel, begin to stagger as Emanuel asked if he was OK. The news conference ended abruptly and Johnson was helped to a chair.

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson speaks during a news conference announcing the department's plan to hire nearly 1,000 new police officers in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., September 21, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young

Johnson later told media his dizziness was unrelated to glomerulonephritis, a kidney disorder he said was first diagnosed 32 years ago when he underwent medical tests as a police recruit.

Johnson said he had managed the disease without medication and without it affecting his ability to lead a normal life, but he had reached the point where a kidney transplant was necessary.

(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago; Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles,; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Peter Cooney)

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