Sheriff

Palm Beach Sheriff's Deputy Donates Kidney To Ailing Co-Worker

Every time Palm Beach Sheriff Deputy Michele Shaffer enters the room, Heidi Grob starts to cry.

Grob, a dispatcher at the Sheriff’s office, received one of Shaffer’s kidneys after cancer treatment damaged one of her own.

"The body has things that we don’t need,” Shaffer said. "It has a spare kidney. If I can save somebody’s life, then I’m going to try."

When she was 11, Grob was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Grob underwent surgery and had radiation and chemotherapy, which harmed her kidneys.

A doctor told her that she needed to prepare for dialysis and a kidney donation, but Grob didn’t have to look very far.

Shaffer noticed that Grob had sent out an email with regard to her health and figured she would be able to help.

"I know I’m healthy," Shaffer recalls thinking. "I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I figured my filters have got to be clean."

The two had procedures at Jackson Memorial Hospital after Shaffer was identified as a match.

Now, when she’s around Shaffer, Grob has a recurring reaction.

"How do you thank somebody that’s given up an organ for you?" Grob said. "She walks in the room and I start crying."

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