Former Detroit Police Officer In Fight For His Life
DETROIT (WWJ) - He spent fifteen years on the streets serving the city of Detroit and now a former police officer needs something back. Sidney Taylor is just 49-years-old, and after five heart attacks the former Detroit police officer is on the list for a new donor heart.
Taylor doesn't know where he is on the list.
"I know I am ahead of a lot of people," Taylor said. "Because of the fact that I have no heart in my chest."
You read that right. Taylor has no heart.
"Right now it's a plastic ball basically that squeezes and releases and pumps blood through my body. It kind of feels like a regular heart beat -- kind of strong," Taylor said the noise sometimes reminds him of being a baby again and lying against his mother's chest.
He admits it's a little odd to think that he has no heart.
"It's a little strange," he said. "It reminds me of the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz...'If I only had a heart.' I laugh a lot about it, but it's very serious," Taylor said.
Taylor said that after over four months tied to a machine at the University of Michigan Hospital, his days are full of physical therapy, but he misses his family.
"I have a wife and two daughters and I have a great dog. And I miss my dog...sometimes I just get lonely. I look forward to seeing them when I come up," Taylor said.
His wife, Joy Taylor, visits every day -- if she can. She's juggling a lot at home with daughters Skye and Sydney and doing the tasks that her husband used to take care of, too. Then there are the costs.
"I have lots of medical bills that are coming in," Joy said . "The bills are astronomical outside of what his insurance pays because he's been here for so long."
Taylor is now on a police pension.
A fundraiser is being held for the family on Friday, Nov. 14 at Thomas Magee's Sporting House Whiskey Bar in Detroit. The event runs from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. and organizers are asking for donations and items to raffle or auction.
The University of Michigan is hosting an organ and blood donation drive at the Big House on Sunday, Nov. 16 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. More info can be found at WolverinesForLife.org
