Cartersville Police Chief Needs a Kidney Donor

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A new initiative is underway to help Cartersville Police Chief Thomas Culpepper find a kidney donor.

Culpepper has been on dialysis “for some time and is in need of a kidney transplant,” said Cartersville police spokesperson Major Mark Camp.

With that in mind, citizens are asked to consider being tested to see if they would be a match for Culpepper, who has spent over 30 years in law enforcement.

Residents who are interested in being tested can contact the Emory Clinic’s Department of Transplant at 855-366-7989, press option 1 and tell staff members they would like to be tested as a possible match for Thomas N. Culpepper (date of birth 10-23-1958).

Culpepper told The Daily Tribune News that his issues started when he was diagnosed with lupus at the age of 12. At the age of 16, Culpepper said the disease went into “remission.”

However, the diagnosis caused some kidney damage, and the chief told the media outlet he later developed gout. In 2006, the chief told the newspaper that his kidney started to fail. He was placed on dialysis in 2013 and on the transplant waiting list, the Tribune reports.

A Facebook page, Chief Culpepper’s Search for a Living Kidney Donor, has also been created for the initiative.

Monetary donations are also being accepted, and can be made by visiting any Century Bank location or mailing a check payable to the Thomas N. Culpepper Foundation for a Kidney to:

Century Bank of Georgia
Attn: Brenda Cooper
P.O. Box 580
Cartersville, GA 30120

Camp added the goal of the foundation is to not only help the chief, but to also find donors for anyone else who needs a kidney.

For more information, visit the Facebook page or email tculpepperfoundation@gmail.com.

Photo credit: Cartersville Police Department