PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – For Portland firefighter Venedo Alcazar, the timing couldn’t have lined up better.
In December 2024, FOX 12 shared Alcazar’s story: a longtime firefighter living with stage five chronic kidney disease, searching for a transplant. At the time, his kidney function had dropped to just 15%.
Watching from the sidelines was Dr. Karen Douek, a retired nephrologist who, at the time, was a stranger to Alcazar. Douek had been hoping to donate a kidney to a former patient she was very close to. But on Dec. 24, 2024, her life took an unexpected turn.
While biking, Douek was involved in a serious accident, breaking several ribs and a vertebra. The firefighters who helped pick her up off the street that day were members of Portland Fire & Rescue’s Station 5 — a station that Alcazar has a working history with.
The day after FOX 12’s story aired, Rick Graves, a spokesperson for Portland Fire & Rescue, heard from Douek, a friend of his who had seen the segment.
“Karen contacted me and said, ‘I’m currently on a list to donate a kidney to one of my former patients,’” Graves said. “That patient was in a good position to receive a kidney through another route. If that happened, she wanted to see if she could help your other friend.”
As it turned out, Douek wasn’t a blood-type match for her former patient. But by May, after meeting Alcazar and spending time with his fire crew, she decided to move forward with donating her kidney to him instead.
“It was really encouraging,” Alcazar said. “Not only would I have a donor, but the donor was someone who knows exactly how this works. She understands the process inside and out. That was a crazy twist to the story for me.”
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On Dec. 29, 2025, at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center, Alcazar received the life-changing kidney transplant and a second chance.
After a successful surgery, surrounded by family and members of his fire crew, Alcazar says he feels brand new. Portland Fire expects him to be back fighting fires within six months.
Dr. Amrita Mahesh, a nephrologist at Legacy Health, says she’s impressed with how well Alcazar is recovering.
Dr. Mahesh knows the journey personally. She received a kidney transplant from a deceased donor 18 years ago, an experience that inspired her career in nephrology.
“I figured with my experience, this would be the best way to help others,” Dr. Mahesh said. “You’re not just giving someone an organ. You’re giving them their time, energy, and independence back, time away from dialysis and essentially, a new lease on life.”
Now, Douek and Alcazar are planning to celebrate the success of their surgeries with their families and a delicious Mediterranean meal, courtesy of Douek.
The two say they’re family now, in each other’s lives forever.
To learn more about Legacy Health’s kidney transplant services, click here.
According to OrganDonor.gov, more than 100,000 people are currently on the national transplant waiting list. Thirteen people die each day while waiting for an organ transplant.
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