Madison Greer, a firefighter with the Phoenix Fire Department, donated one of her kidneys to her husband, Surprise firefighter Robert Coleman Jr., after he was diagnosed with stage 5 kidney disease in 2025. The couple, married in September 2025, are now recovering together from the surgery and say they hope to return to work once they've fully healed.
Coleman's diagnosis came as a shock, and he required dialysis in 2025 as his kidney function declined, according to FOX 10 Phoenix. Greer applied to become his donor, and testing determined she was a direct match, meaning Coleman could bypass a paired donor exchange or the long wait most patients face. Coleman told the station his wife had given him “a second chance at life.”
Greer recalled telling him he would feel better within a day of the transplant, per the outlet's report drawn from interviews with the couple and a family GoFundMe page. Coleman's family started that GoFundMe campaign to help cover medical expenses tied to his treatment and recovery.
A Rare Match in a State Short on Living Donors
Being a direct compatible match without needing a paired exchange is statistically uncommon: roughly 1 in 4 potential living donors match their intended recipient outright, according to the National Kidney Foundation. Matching requires blood type compatibility, tissue typing, and a negative antibody crossmatch, all of which lined up for Greer and Coleman.
That kind of luck is scarce in Arizona, where roughly 1,750 residents remained on the kidney transplant waitlist in 2025, according to the American Kidney Fund. The fund's data shows only 171 living donor kidney transplants were performed statewide in 2024, out of 763 total kidney transplants, meaning about 32% of kidney transplants in Arizona come from living donors like Greer rather than deceased donors.
Even so, the state is in the middle of a donation surge. Organ donors saved 1,083 lives across Arizona in 2025 through 1,244 transplanted organs, an all-time record, according to Donor Network of Arizona, which also reported that the state's pool of registered donors topped 5 million for the first time last year. Locally, Mayo Clinic's Phoenix program completed 556 kidney transplants in 2025, including 111 from living donors, per the Mayo Clinic, which has performed more than 7,150 kidney transplants since its program opened in 1999.
Two Fire Departments, One Recovery Timeline
Greer serves with the Phoenix Fire Department, which employs more than 1,900 sworn firefighters, while Coleman works for the Surprise Fire-Medical Department, which has more than 200 staff. Both agencies operate under the Central Arizona Regional Automatic Aid Dispatch System, which lets the closest available unit respond across municipal lines in the Phoenix metro area, according to the City of Phoenix.
Because both Greer and Coleman work physically demanding jobs, their return to full duty won't happen quickly. National Kidney Foundation recovery guidelines call for living donors in physically demanding roles to avoid heavy lifting or carrying objects over 10 to 15 pounds for six to twelve weeks after surgery, though donors typically can return to light administrative work within two to four weeks.
Firefighting itself carries added kidney risk even before a donation is involved. Occupational health research published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that firefighters face heightened risks of acute kidney strain and heat-related illness tied to heavy protective gear, extreme ambient heat, and strenuous physical labor, with dehydration and rhabdomyolysis recognized as risk factors during heavy structural fire suppression.
Life After the Transplant
Living donor kidneys typically begin functioning immediately after transplantation and generally double a recipient's expected graft lifespan to 20 to 25 years or more compared with organs from deceased donors, according to Duke Health. For Coleman, that means a far longer runway than he would have faced waiting on Arizona's list, where nationwide, more than 94,000 of the roughly 108,000 Americans on the organ transplant waitlist are waiting specifically for a kidney, per the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.
Once they've fully recovered, Greer and Coleman say they plan to travel and enjoy life together, and they hope their story spreads awareness about the impact living kidney donation can have. Firefighters facing serious medical challenges in the Phoenix area aren't without support either; the Phoenix Fire Department runs a 24/7 Member Services Division to assist personnel and their families through major health crises, built around the department's motto that its family helps your family, according to KTAR News.
Greer and Coleman's story echoes other first responders who have stepped up for loved ones and colleagues, including a retired FDNY firefighter's kidney transplant made possible through a fellow firefighter's support network.
