For the past two years, Minneapolis police officer Carlos Baires Escobar had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of a kidney, CBS Minnesota reported.
He was diagnosed with lupus about six years ago, and had been undergoing peritoneal dialysis, according to his Facebook plea for help.
"The chances of me receiving a kidney off of this list before I die are slim, and this is where I need your help," Baires Escobar wrote on Facebook.
A 20-year-old stranger decided to make his dreams come true. Sebastian Rivera saw the Facebook post and, in January, he donated his kidney to Baires Escobar.
"Helping someone out, just because … it should be a normal thing," Rivera told CBS.
On Saturday, local police officers and firefighters gathered at Uppercut Boxing Gym for a "Unite and Fight" event to raise money for Baires Escobar and his family, according to KSTP5.
"For me it's kind of hard because the face of police officers is that you're helping people," Baires Escobar told the outlet. "You're not asking them to help you because it kind of contradicts what the role is. So I kind of had to swallow my pride a little bit."
They say what goes around comes around and that rang true for Rivera.
Right before the kidney donation surgery, Rivera got in a car accident leaving him with thousands of dollars worth of damages, CBS reported. He was out of work for weeks recovering.
Baires Escobar figured he'd return the favor and posted a message to help raise money for Rivera on the same Facebook page as his original post. He has set up a "Help a Hero" fund where donors can give to Rivera.
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