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Bionic Hero Saves Stranger's Life With Kidney

BOSTON (WBZ) ― Asking Karl Chapin about his life is like Googling "interesting story." A lot comes up—a black belt, a scuba diver, a sky diver, and a war hero. Chapin has a list of military honors—the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star—that he reads as a casually as a grocery list.

Chapin has half an arm. He lost the other half saving a man in Vietnam. Modest, Chapin said, "that doesn't make me a hero, it makes me a soldier."

How he lost his arm is only part of what makes him an interesting story. There's also his new "bionic arm." Yes, bionic. He thinks it, his fingers do it. To Chapin, "it looks like something out of 'I-Robot.'"

And, there is the organ story…

About a year ago, Chapin found his old organ donation card and wondered why he should wait for death. "People live with one kidney, people are born with one kidney. So, I figured, I'll give up a kidney." 

Chapin used MatchingDonors.com, a sort of classified list of people looking for an organ donation. Chapin found a total stranger and called him, "I said, 'Know what? I'm going to help you.'"

Riccardo Mermet, the owner of an Arlington restaurant, was at Massachusetts General Hospital and was badly in need of a kidney. Chapin set things up and everyone was excited—until he met the doctor.

"The doctor looked me in the eye and said, 'I am not going to approve this. You're a war hero and you've done enough for this country. I am not going to approve a surgery you don't need to save someone that you do not know."

Furious, Chapin began making calls and lodging complaints. He wasn't going away, "even if the doctor said that I had done enough for my country, I wanted to do one more thing for someone I didn't know."

The hospital did bring him back. And, he was a match.

Two weeks ago, Chapin and Riccardo met for the first time. And, last Tuesday, the had the surgery.

Everything went perfectly. Chapin's wife, Patricia, was proud, "this happens to be huge. It will make a big difference in this man's life and in his family's life."

So, if you see a man with a bionic arm, say hello. But, if you ask him what he's been up to and he says, "not much", don't believe him. And, don't believe him when he says that he's not a hero.

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