"He had my back," she said. Now she has his.
A retired Maryland police officer gave a piece of herself to save the life of her former beat partner.
Megan Ambrose was wheeled into surgery this week, where her left kidney was removed and transplanted into Stanley Barsch, her brother in blue.
The operation went off without a hitch at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C.
"You're stuck with me forever for life!" Ambrose told Barsch.
"I love you more than words can express," Barsch told her in a letter.
Both invited Inside Edition to witness the transplant surgery, necessary because Barsch suffered a genetic disorder that caused fluid-filled cysts to grow inside his kidneys. The organs had swelled to 15 to 20 pounds each, he said.
He took to Facebook in December, looking for a donor. Without telling him, Ambrose underwent testing to see if she was a match. The results showed she was 100% compatible. She broke the news to him in a handmade card that read, "So I heard urine need of a kidney ... want mine???"
And when it came time for surgery, the spouses of both were also present.
"We're very, very proud of her," said Megan's husband, Chris Ambrose.
"It means so much," said Stanley's wife, Jessica.
After eight hours of surgery, both patients were doing fine. "The kidney is functioning normally," said transplant surgeon Dr. Seyed Ghasemian. "We are happy."
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