Tulsa World: Police officers linked by tendon

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Police officers linked by tendon
A Tulsan resumes his career thanks to tissue from a Dallas officer who died in the line of duty.

Tulsa Police Officer Ron Neal's knee was reconstructed using tissue from a donor who also was a police officer. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World

By NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writer
Published: 2/26/2009 2:30 AM
Last Modified: 2/26/2009 2:50 AM

Tulsa Police Officer Ron Neal thought his law enforcement career might be over when he suffered a severe knee injury while arresting a combative drunken driver last year.

But later he would learn that a Dallas police officer who died in the line of duty could give him a second chance.

In October, a surgeon reconstructed the torn ligament in Neal's knee using an Achilles tendon from an organ and tissue donor.

"At that time, I knew nothing about the donor. I was just happy to have the surgery," Neal said.

Neal learned the story of the donor in November, and as he learned more about him, it seemed that fate had brought their two families together, he said.

Dallas Police Department Senior Cpl. Victor Lozada died on Feb. 22, 2008, in a motorcycle accident. At the time of the crash, he was part of the motorcade protecting then-Sen. Hillary Clinton during a presidential campaign visit to Dallas. Lozada was 49 years old.

His wife, Theresa Lozada, reached by phone at her Texas home on Wednesday, said she and her four children, ages 9 through 22, unanimously agreed to donate his organs and tissue. They relied on his belief in helping others and doing the right thing.

"When my husband passed, at the hospital bed, they came to us and asked me if we would want to do that," Lozada said. "I told my children that I was not going to do it unless we all agreed."

The older children all said yes, but the 9-year-old boy hesitated at first.

"Then he agreed, saying, 'That is what Daddy would want,' " Lozada said.

In all, 61 recipients received donations from her husband, she said. She perceived the news that one of the recipients was a police officer as a sign that came to her during a troubled time, she said.

"It was right before Christmas. I was upset, and it was a hard time with the holidays. I prayed and asked Victor to give me a sign that everything I was doing was right — that it was what he wanted," she said.

That is when she got the phone call informing her that Neal was a police officer and that he had agreed to her request to meet the recipients.

"That, to me, was like Victor was saying I was doing the right thing and everything was all right," Lozada said.

Neal said he had mixed feelings when he learned that the donor was a police officer.

"I am happy that the program exists to give people a second chance of resuming normal activities, but I am also very sad that an officer was killed in the line of duty," Neal said.

On Sunday, Neal will travel to Dallas to meet with the Lozada family and to attend a dedication ceremony his department will have Monday marking his death a year ago. Lozada's picture and a plaque will be hung at the station where he worked.

"It is going to be emotional. This happened to a fellow officer, and it is a daily reminder of the dangers that we face as police officers," Neal said. "Hopefully, his wife and her family will see that even though he passed away, he still lives on and his duties as a police officer are carried on through me."

Neal, who worked 20 years on patrol without any previous injury, is working light duty now. He will find out next week whether he is well enough to return to patrol.

Every year the company that handled Lozada's organ and tissue donations, RTI Donor Services, chooses a donor family to represent it in the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year's Day. Last year the company chose the Lozada family, and Theresa Lozada rode on a float in the parade.

"It is a wonderful experience that people are being able to use things that he is not able to use right now," Lozada said. "But it is also bittersweet."

Moved by the experience, both Neal and his wife signed up to be organ donors. And as they get to know the Lozada family more, they are learning that they have more in common than law enforcement, Neal said.

"It was a strange coincidence that the date of his death was also my wedding anniversary," he said.

Also, Lozada joined the Dallas police force on Neal's wife's birthday.

"We agree that it was like fate intervened in some way," Neal said.

Nicole Marshall 581-8459
nicole.marshall@tulsaworld.com By NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writer

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BayouGirl, Owasso (2/26/2009 8:42:20 AM)

Thank you TW! A good story to share. It is nice to read good news stories to start my day.

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