After a six year search for a kidney that included a social media campaign, Craig Dunbar has met his match close to home.
“I found it ironic that we searched so far and wide and then it turned out to be somebody that I’d known for years all along,” said Dunbar.
Dunbar has been a volunteer firefighter with Ottawa Fire Services for years. His donor, Ann Gervais, is the wife of his former rural sector chief.
“If this is something I can do to help someone who has encouraged and inspired and given hope to so many people, that's a really cool thing for me,” said Gervais, who spoke publicly for the first time Saturday, exclusively with CTV Ottawa.
“My goal all along has been to get back on the fire floor and get in the trucks again so to have a member of the family be the one to help me do that is pretty amazing,” Dunbar said.
Dunbar was diagnosed with renal failure in 2007. He was told the fistula, or access he used for dialysis, would fail within the year so he launched a social media campaign to find a donor.
“When you can put a face to somebody who’s not going to last a year, that really hit home for me and how do you say 'no, I’m not going to step up to the plate?'" Gervais said.
Gervais started the testing process after watching CTV’s first story on Craig’s situation earlier this year.
The transplant is scheduled for Jan. 16. Ann can be perfectly healthy with just one kidney.
“I could say thank you a million times and it wouldn’t be enough,” said Dunbar. “For me to get this gift and a second shot at life, I can’t even put into words how I feel about this and the amount of thanks that I have.”
With a report from CTV’s Katie Griffin
