Police officer honored for donating kidney

written by: Jeffrey Wolf   | 9NEWS

DENVER - A police detective was honored on Friday night for a gift he gave a fellow officer.

9NEWS first introduced the public to Denver Police Det. Danny Veith and Det. Ed David when they were a week out from kidney transplant surgery.

Veith anonymously tested to be a kidney donor when he learned his coworker was sick.

David was in kidney failure.

Twenty eight days before the surgery, Veith revealed he was a match and would be the donor.

They were in side-by-side operating rooms at Porter Adventist Hospital. One of Veith's kidneys was successfully given to David.

9NEWS Reporter Cheryl Preheim followed their story and Friday night, she presented an award to Veith.

The Heartlight Center honored him for his work toeducation people about live organ donation. He says he wants people to know it was an amazing experience for him as a donor and there are thousands more people like David who are waiting for transplants.

Veith was one of five Denver officers who anonymously tested to be David's kidney donor. One of those four candidates has since donated an organ to another patient on the waiting list - someone the officer had never met.