Toronto Police Deputy Chief Jim Ramer has been named as Acting Chief of the force while Chief Mark Saunders prepares to undergo a kidney transplant.
Saunders revealed exclusively to CTV News Toronto last week that after months of at-home dialysis for kidney disease, he will receive a new kidney on Monday from his wife, Stacey.
In a statement, Toronto Police Services Board Chair Andy Pringle extended “support and best wishes” to Saunders ahead of the surgery.
While Pringle did not indicate how long Ramer will act as chief in Saunders’s absence, recovery from kidney transplant surgery typically takes between six to eight weeks.
“I would also like to commend the courage of Stacey Saunders for donating one of her kidneys to her husband. I wish her a safe and healthy recovery from her surgery today, as well. They will both be in our thoughts over the coming days and weeks as they recuperate,” Pringle wrote in the statement.
“I know that the members of the Toronto Police Service will continue to do the great work they do each and every day to keep our city safe. We all look forward to welcoming Chief Saunders back to work after a successful recovery.”
Saunders told CTV News Toronto last week that he discovered that he had been living with only one kidney sometime in the late 1990s.
Eventually, his remaining kidney started to fail.
Saunders said he’s undergone seven to eight hours of dialysis every day for the past 15 months.
Though he was added to a donor list, his wife Stacey ended up being a match.
“My wife, who is always one step in front of me, said ‘Nobody goes to do anything without me first.’ She took it upon herself to do the test and it was a match,” he said on Friday.
“If I was going to have someone else’s organ, why not let it be from the person you love?”
Saunders stayed relevantly mum about when he expects to be back to work, but said he’ll always know “what’s going on.”
“I have an amazing command at work. The city is going to be just as safe as it ever was, if not even safer,” he said with a smile.
“The new command added to the mix are brilliant alphas, for lack of a better term, they’ll be getting the job done and I’m excited that I can step back a little bit knowing the city will still be the safest city in North America.”