GASTONIA, N.C. -- A Gastonia police officer gave two people a second chance at life donating his organs.
Back in 2015, traffic officer Zachary Lechette donated his kidney to a stranger from Raleigh at Duke University Hospital.
“You have two kidneys. You can live healthy and normal with one. It meant I had a spare. I wanted to help someone and give back to them. It seemed an easy way to help someone who needed it,” Lechette said.
He was inspired to become a living donor after the daughter of one of his co-workers at his previous job died while waiting on a kidney transplant.
“That really sparked something in me, wanting to help somebody else,” Lechette said.
He had to be off work for six weeks to recover after the surgery but didn’t have any complications.
After watching advertisement from the University of Pittsburg Medical Center highlighting the need for liver donations, he decided to donate again last March.
"I've been in law enforcement since I was 20. It's something that I guess it's in my blood to help people and I've always been a blood donor, joined the bone marrow registry. This may an extensive next step but if I can help somebody else, why not?” Lechette said.
Lechette gave 60 percent of his liver to a woman he had never met. She had been on the liver transplant list for a long time.
“People needing a liver donation, unfortunately, don’t have time on their side. Knowing that and knowing I was clear to donate, made sense for me to help someone who didn’t have that much time to wait,” Lechette said.
The officer was able to return back to work after nine weeks.
He said if the could he would do it all over again.
"Knowing that you had that impact on someone's life, that makes it all worth it. That's what it was about,” Lechette said.
He now hopes his story encourages someone else to become a living donor.
According to Donate Life North Carolina, living donors can donate a kidney, a lobe of a lung, a portion of the liver, pancreas or intestine.
If you are interested in becoming a donor, click here.