When Jorge Castro, a 14-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, was diagnosed with a rare liver disease in January of 2014, his life was forever changed.
After treatment failed, time was running out, and had was only one option left: a liver transplant. But no one in his family was a match, and doctors told him he needed a new liver as soon as possible, according to local reports.
Then fellow Deputy Javier Tiscareno stepped in. Tiscareno, who has been on the job for 18 years, found out he was the same blood type as Castro and wanted to help. He told Castro he wanted to donate part of his liver. Tiscareno got tested and learned he was a perfect match.
Though Castro thought he was joking at first, for Tiscareno, the decision was easy. “I consider the members of this department, as well as the law enforcement community, my extended family, and I am happy to help out a brother in need,†Tiscareno said in a press conference earlier this week.
The liver transplant surgery was performed Thursday at Keck Hospital of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. A spokesperson from the hospital confirmed to CBS News that the surgery went well.
Transplanting part of a liver from a living donor is a viable option because the liver is the only organ capable of regenerating itself. The American Liver Foundation says about 6,000 liver transplants are done in the U.S. each year, and 16,000 patients are on the waiting list.
Castro said if Tiscareno had not stepped in, he would have died without the procedure.â€The words I’ll never forget is when he told me, ‘I’m not gonna go to a funeral knowing I could have helped,’†Castro said.
He called Tiscareno his “guardian angel†and the two now share an unbreakable bond. “There’s no word to express how much I love him now,†Castro said. “He is the brother I never had.â€