CLIFTON, N.J. (AP) - A lifesaving gesture by a Clifton man’s best friend saved the life of the special-needs niece he raised from childhood and helped three more gravely ill people through a live organ-exchange program.

Joseph Porretta donated his kidney on Oct. 2, coming to the rescue of Tiffany Sheppard, 24, who was raised from age 8 by his best friend from Clifton High School, Joe Bray.

His kidney, however, went to a patient in California, while Sheppard received a live kidney from Utah. The connection was facilitated by St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston’s Living Donation Kidney Exchange Program, which results in quicker and better statistical outcomes for the patients.

“I found out I was compatible, but because there’s some age difference between me and Tiffany, they put us in this national exchange program,” said Porretta, 51, a retired parole officer who lives in Rockaway Township with his wife and son.

Dr. Stuart Geffner, director of kidney and transplant surgery and chairman of the department of surgery at SBMC, said transplants of live kidneys are usually more successful than waiting for “deceased donor” kidneys.

“Some patients have a potential living donor, but that donor might not be compatible for them,” Geffner said. “So the idea is that if Patient A needs a kidney, and their donor is incompatible, and Patient B needs a kidney, and their intended donor is incompatible, then perhaps Patient A’s donor is compatible with Patient B, and Patient B’s donor is compatible to Patient A. And therefore, both patients can be transplanted.”

A 2016 blood test unrelated to her condition revealed previously unknown problems with Sheppard’s kidneys. Subsequent testing revealed she was only born with one kidney, and it was undersized.

She immediately started regular dialysis treatments, reporting to the hospital three times a week for 3 1/2-hour sessions. Three years later, she entered the exchange program with Poretta in August, and they were matched just four days later.

“This is an incredibly valuable program for our patients,” Geffner said. “If patients do not have a potential living donor, they have to wait on a waiting list, and that waiting list in New Jersey is five to seven years. Patients generally do not do that well on dialysis for that long.”

The successful surgery on Oct. 2 was “life-changing” for her, Bray said. It was also delayed for several hours because Sheppard’s new kidney, which arrived on a red-eye flight at JFK Airport, “got stuck in traffic in Brooklyn.”

“After three years, no more dialysis,” Bray said “She is starting to lead a normal life again.”

Sheppard will be “grounded” for about six more weeks as she heals and adjusts to anti-rejection medications that have compromised her immune system. But she hopes to resume participating in Special Olympics sporting events and looks forward to being healthy for the holidays, Bray said.

The family also will be counting its blessings this holiday season, starting with the astounding gesture by Porretta, who is still recovering, but is on his feet and able to drive.

“I was best man at his wedding, and he was best man at mine,” Poretta said of Bray. “We are like brothers and I know if the roles were reversed, he would do it for me.”

“The thing is, he didn’t only help my Tiff,” Bray said of Poretta. “When he donated his kidney, Tiff got hers and someone else got his. That’s two, but with those two off the list, two more people moved up. So he really helped four people.”

Sheppard is similarly grateful to the man she knows as her father’s best friend.

“When she found out, she almost tackled him,” Bray said. “She grabbed him and said, ‘You’re my hero’.”

Online: https://bit.ly/2VTM0dW

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Information from: Daily Record (Parsippany, N.J.), http://www.dailyrecord.com

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