Chicago Police Superintendent to Receive Kidney from Son

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson will have transplant surgery next week to receive a kidney from his son Daniel, who hopes to become a Chicago police officer, the superintendent told members of the department late Wednesday afternoon.

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Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson will have transplant surgery next week to receive a kidney from his son Daniel, who hopes to become a Chicago police officer, the superintendent told members of the department late Wednesday afternoon.

“I know it’s no secret that I’ve been managing a chronic kidney disorder for the last 30 years. Well the time has come that I have to put that to bed and put it behind me,’’ Johnson said in a video message to the department.

Johnson, who turned 57 in July, will have surgery next Wednesday, Aug. 30. Daniel Johnson is 25.

Johnson said First Deputy Supt. Kevin Navarro will “take the reins’’ while he takes a “brief medical leave of absence,’’ which should not be longer than a “typical furlough,’’ or vacation period, according to Johnson.

He first went public on Jan. 27 about being on the waiting list for a kidney transplant, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Johnson was diagnosed with a kidney ailment  — glomerulonephritis, an acute inflammation of the kidney — more than three decades ago when he underwent testing as part of his applying to become a Chicago police officer.

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