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CMPD sergeant donates kidney to police sergeant brother

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Two local brothers are now bonded by more than blood.
 
A Matthews police sergeant found out several months ago his kidney would not last much longer, and the donor list was five to eight years long.
 
Inside Carolinas Medical Center Thursday, two brothers are in for a long recovery in rooms along the same hallway.
 
Jamie Matthews has a rare genetic disorder that can eventually lead to kidney failure and a few months ago he learned he was at Stage 5, and in desperate need of a new kidney.
 
"When it comes to a family member, you do whatever you have to for family," said Sgt. Patrick Matthews with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
 
When his brother needed him most, Patrick Matthews said there was no question he would donate a kidney to his brother, Jamie Matthews, who is a sergeant with the Matthews Police Department.
 
"It was truly amazing and to find out he was a match was great. It was great." said Sgt. Jamie Matthews.
 
Patrick Matthews told his brother the good news on Christmas Day.
A cellphone video captured the hug but not the emotion.
 

"Words in that video can't do it any justice of what was actually feeling for him," Patrick Matthews said. "Just being able to tell him that I could do that for him."

It's rare to be a perfect match and the brothers said the journey has been long, but extremely rewarding.
 
"It's a big deal, big deal," Patrick Matthews said. "He'll always have a part of me inside him now and I hope he associates that with life and quality of life."
 
"It means the world to me that he would do that for me," Jamie Matthews said.
 
Their mother said her sons have always been competitive and have become closer through this, and so has the family.
 
Both men will get to go home from the hospital on Saturday, but have several weeks of recovery ahead.
 
Both said they never knew the value of being a donor until they went through it themselves.
 
If you're interested in signing up to be a donor, follow this link: http://organdonor.gov/becomingdonor/index.html

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