ST. LOUIS - Doug Lampert, 26, doesn’t remember his life-changing liver donation.
“I was 9-months-old when I received my liver as a baby,” said Lampert. “I actually will be celebrating my 27th anniversary of my transplant on November 30, so I’m very happy and very thankful for my donor family, my medical staff [and] my doctors.”
“And as far as the fitness goes there have been zero limitations," said Lampert after being asked about challenges faced by a transplant recipient during six and a half months of rigorous police academy training.
Lampert said many of his academy classmates have no idea about his organ transplant history.
“I’m happy that nobody can tell the difference but at the same time I want to be able to spread that word to as many people as I can meet that organ donation works, that I’m living proof of that. There are no limitations for someone who has a transplant,” he said.
For Lampert, living life to the fullest means fulfilling his dream of becoming a police officer.
Thursday, Harris Stowe University hosted the St. Louis Police Academy graduation ceremony.
Lampert was one of 21 new police officers who took their oath.
Lampert said there is a connection between his life-saving transplant when he was too young to remember, to his career choice to serve and protect.
As Lampert joins his brother Chuck as a St. Louis police officer, he wants to share his story about what organ donation has meant to his life.
“My transplant and my career choice definitely go hand in hand in that I am always looking for a way to give back,” said Lampert. “What do you say to someone who has given you life? Day in and day out when you wake up, knowing that you're here, knowing that you have the second chance at life, it's something that you don't take for granted.”
