RETIRED POLICE OFFICER IN DIRE NEED OF KIDNEY, VOLUNTEER DONOR TOGETHER FOR PRESS EVENT

BULLHEAD CITY SGT. MIKE NEWMAN NEEDS A MIRACLE;
VOLUNTEER KELLIE BOFF STEPS UP TO SAVE HIS LIFE

WHO: KIDNEY TRANSPLANT CANDIDATE MIKE NEWMAN; DONOR KELLIE BOFF; MIKE’S DOCTOR; ARIZONA FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE MEMBERS; NATIONAL KIDNEY FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA

WHEN: 3:45 PM, FRIDAY, AUGUST 10, 2012

WHERE: MAYO CLINIC HOSPITAL, 5777 E. MAYO BLVD., PHOENIX, 85054 (Intersection of 56th Street and Mayo Boulevard, near the 101. Enter through main doors of Mayo Clinic Hospital and you will be directed to the Mayo Clinic Education Center).

Mike Newman, a longtime Bullhead City police sergeant, and Kellie Boff, the Bullhead City Chamber of Commerce operations director, once were no better than strangers. Not anymore. Now, through Kellie’s selflessness, they’re about to become friends for the rest of Mike’s life.

Boff, 43, will be at the Mayo Clinic Friday to complete medical compatibility testing and to discuss her decision to donate a kidney to Newman, a 57-year-old police retiree suffering from end stage renal failure.

“I couldn’t be more grateful, especially to someone who’s a stranger willing to make such a supreme sacrifice,” says Newman. “Kellie is literally giving me the gift of life.”

Also present and available for interviews will be a medical professional from Mayo, which will handle the transplant; Dr. James Ivie of the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona, to discuss the rarity of Kellie’s donation; and the Arizona Fraternal Order of Police, which is conducting ongoing fundraising to help cover Mike and Kellie’s out-of-pocket expenses.

Interviews will begin promptly at 3:45 Friday, August 10th, 2012. Please contact David Leibowitz at 602.317.1414 or david@leibowitzsolo.com with questions or to RSVP.