Gwinnett County death investigator seeks organ donor amid fight for his life

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - On the outside, Eric Bailey appears to have a clean bill of health, and for most of his life, he did.

But a closer look reveals a different story.

In 2018, doctors alerted the Gwinnett County death investigator of a shocking discovery: He was in kidney failure.

"The next day she called me and told me I need to get to the hospital as soon as possible because it could be a life-or-death situation," Bailey recalled.

Bailey undergoes dialysis for 10 hours every day.

The dire development landed the father of two on dialysis for 10 hours every day. All awhile, Bailey maintains his full-time job at the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner’s Office, toe-to-toe with death at work and at home.

"I’d like to have my life back," Bailey said. "Like I said, only thing I can do is go to work, do dialysis, and go to doctor appointments right now, so now I don’t have a life outside of that."

He hasn’t had luck during his two and a half years on the transplant list, so co-workers are aiding his search, speaking out about the death investigator’s inspiring attitude after many were screened themselves as possible donors but weren’t matches.

"Despite the fact that when he comes to work, it’s all related to death in some way or another, he’s fighting for his life, he’s fighting for his health, and we definitely are fighting right alongside with him," said Shannon Volkadov, his co-worker.

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Donating a kidney is no small venture with weeks-long recovery post-op, but many say the reward is invaluable.

Take it from the FOX Medical Team’s Beth Galvin, who changed a father’s life across the country, and in turn, her own.

"I think that it really on a much deeper human, emotional level changed my life, in a sense that it made me feel this huge connection with the world around me," Galvin, a kidney donor, explained. "I felt like I was the one that got the gift I think in a lot of ways, and I cannot encourage people more to explore [donating] if they’re feeling the calling."

Galvin welcomes questions from people interested in becoming a kidney donor. You can email her at Beth.Galvin@FOX.com.

Bailey is on the National Kidney Registry, so even if you are not a match, you can donate on his behalf. As a result, he will then receive a life-saving organ from someone else through a program called Paired Exchange Donation.

You can learn more about helping Bailey at 855-366-7989 through Emory Healthcare. He is also on Erlanger Health System’s transplant list.

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