Update: Deputy Andre Ardeneaux’s surgery was held Friday, July 22. It went well!
COVINGTON, La. (WGNO) — Robert “Andre” Ardeneaux doesn’t want to talk about himself. But the Saint Tammany Parish sheriff’s deputy definitely wants to talk about donating a kidney, especially if it will convince you to consider doing the same thing.
Friday afternoon, July 8, Ardeneaux and his wife, Brittany, spoke to reporters about a transplant that was scheduled to happen the following week.
Ardeneaux agreed to give a kidney to a person he’d never met. But the two shared a bond because they’re both sheriff’s deputies.
The recipient is Jason Triche, one of four Saint John Parish deputies who were shot in an ambush and gunfight in 2012 in LaPlace. Two deputies were killed. Triche’s road to recovery included multiple medical setbacks, and finally his kidneys stopped functioning.
“I definitely think that what he did was a lot bigger than what I’m willing to do,” Ardeneaux says of Triche’s recovery and the transplant ahead.
Along with working in law enforcement, Triche and Ardeneaux are also both married with young children. But while Ardeneaux is proud to help Triche make a big step in his recovery, he says he’d have donated the kidney to anyone who needed one.
But more than anything, Ardeneaux wants to encourage more people to also offer their kidneys for donation. He says the process is simpler than he expected. He also says the medical screening process all but eliminates the possibility that the donation will cause problems down the road for him.
The transplant will happen at Ochsner on Monday. Ardeneaux says he’ll stay one night in the hospital then be released to return home. While he’s looking forward to playing baseball with his sons soon, he’s also hopeful Triche will be able to enjoy the same experiences with his kids.