PHOENIX — A Phoenix firefighter donated a kidney to her husband, a Surprise firefighter who was diagnosed with a rare disease and developed stage 5 kidney failure.
Maddy Geer and Junior Coleman underwent transplant surgery on July 16 and are recovering at their home, AZ Family reported.
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“When you’re 30 years old, we’re healthy, we’re fit, we work out all the time. You never expect something like this to happen,” Geer said.
Coleman was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease in April 2025. His wife, Geer, volunteered to be tested as a living donor and was found to be a match.
Before the transplant, Coleman developed stage 5 kidney failure and underwent dialysis three times a week for three months. He said persistent fatigue and blurry vision were among the first signs that something was wrong.
“What really threw us for a loop though is the fire department does very thorough physicals and nothing was caught with my blood pressure,” Coleman said. “Blood pressure was good when I was going into my doctor’s meetings, but it was like at night, my blood pressure was just going out of control. So, that’s what the scary part is.”
Coleman told AZ Family he is already feeling better.
“I felt alive again,” Coleman said. “She gave me a chance at a second life.”
Geer said the successful transplant made the discomfort from her own recovery worthwhile.
“Knowing that I’m going to make him feel better, it’s just like that outweighed all the pain,” Geer said.
Both said they look forward to returning to full duty after recovering from the transplant. A GoFundMe campaign has been established to help cover the couple’s medical expenses.
