Retired Mass. state trooper searching for organ donor following ‘shocking’ diagnosis

“And just like that, the life we imagined and planned was gone.”

In the midst of the pandemic, Thomas McAnulty received a “shocking” diagnosis.

McAnulty, a retired Massachusetts state trooper, had always been healthy, but for unknown reasons, in 2020, he was diagnosed with kidney disease.

“And just like that, the life we imagined and planned was gone,” McAnulty’s wife, Kathleen, wrote on his kidney donation page.

McAnulty, who is now on 10 hours of home peritoneal dialysis daily, is in end stage renal failure. His kidneys are functioning at 6%.

“What happens to those patients on dialysis is that their health condition deteriorates,” Dr. Stefan Tullius, who leads the transplant surgery division where McAnulty is receiving treatment, told NBC10 Boston. “And what we do with every patient, we encourage them to look for a living donor because we know that the wait time is so terribly long.”

McAnulty and his family have been searching for a kidney donor for years, but to no avail.

Potential donors have been screened, but all — including family and friends — have not qualified for donation.

“Tommy is someone who continually puts others first,” Kathleen wrote of McAnulty, who served in the state for over 36 years. “Whenever a citizen, an officer, a family member, friend, or even a total stranger needed help, he couldn’t be there fast enough, no questions asked.”

McAnulty’s years-long wait is not uncommon. Over 101,000 Americans need a kidney each year, but only 17,000 people receive one, according to the National Kidney Foundation.

“We are desperate to get Tommy back to his normal, healthy self, and for him to return to doing all the things that he loves,” Kathleen wrote. “I can’t live without him.”

Lindsay Shachnow covers general assignment news for Boston.com, reporting on breaking news, crime, and politics across New England.