Officer Jim "JT" Turner Transplant

Our dear friend Officer Jim "JT" Turner is a Police Officer in Coppell, TX . He is currently on dialysis and is also on a transplant list to receive a kidney.
Even with Insurance, dialysis is extremely expensive! A transplant, God willing, is also extremely expensive. I know first hand about this topic as I am a living kidney donor and watched my kidney son and family struggle for many years. Please find it in your heart and give whatever is comfortable for you.
Here is a bit of information on JT, in his own words:

I was born in Corpus Christi, TX in 1970. I am the youngest of three children. Shortly after I was born, we moved to San Antonio, which is where I grew up. I went to a Christian school a majority of my school years eventually graduating from BBC Christian Academy in 1988.

I attended Texas A&M engineering extension in San Antonio for electrical engineering from 1988-1990, but my heart was not in it.

I decided to follow my passion and put all my efforts into becoming a San Antonio Police Officer, but my father suddenly passed away and my mother was very ill. Financial it wasn’t possible at that time.

I got into the private security field and began working for the Baptist Health System in 1993, where I stayed for 8 years. My mother passed away in 2000, at that point I began pursuing police work again.

One of my best friends was working for the Carrollton\ Police Department and was trying to get me to move up to the metroplex area. He told me the Coppell Police Department was hiring (which is a place I never heard of) and that I should come apply. I applied and was eventually offered a job by Coppell and San Antonio. Coppell offered me the job first so I accepted and started in November 26, 2001. I graduated from the Dallas County Sheriff’s Academy in 2002 and was sworn in as a Coppell Police Officer on May 7, 2002.

I have worked patrol my entire career as a Police Officer, I love being the first on scene and the fact that everyday is different. I was a Field Training Officer for several years and on SWAT for 10 years. I started with Coppell's original SWAT team and transitioned over to the North Texas Metrocrest SWAT Team. I'm currently on the Honor Guard team, a TCOLE Instructor, a Firearms instructor, a Taser Instructor, an Instructor of Excited Delirium and a Less Lethal Instructor.

In 2003, I started having headaches and discovered my blood pressure was high. The doctor figured out the high blood pressure was being caused by a strain on my kidneys and referred me to a specialist. After a biopsy, I was diagnosed with chronic primary Glomerulonephritis, which is defined as inflammation of the glomeruli. Glomeruli are small blood vessels in the kidneys. The disease damages the kidneys ability to remove waste and fluid from the body. People can just develop it on their own like I did, or it can be brought on by another disease like lupus or diabetes. It had not affected me until 2014, when I suddenly had no energy and a loss of appetite. I started dialysis on December 24, 2014, and spent a week in the hospital.

My wife Amada (not Amanda) and I met in Coppell in 2005, and started dating in 2007. We were married on May 3, 2014, and I have a step-daughter named Jessalyn. Amada knew I was sick and that this would eventually happen, but she still wanted to marry me. I am blessed to have Her and Jessalyn in my life.

That pretty much sums me up. As far as things that I like to do, you can either find me doing something outdoors like fishing, or inside glued to the tv watching the San Antonio Spurs.

Despite the circumstances, I am thankful for what God has given me. I have a beautiful family, great friends and the career I always wanted.