KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — Police Chief Woody Chavis is used to being woken up in the middle of the night with a telephone call with news about a shooting or a wreck and that he’s needed at the scene.
But some people may not realize that, unlike most of his officers, Chavis can’t just hop out of bed and race out the door.
He suffers from Stage 5 renal disease. He has only one functioning kidney, which is now suffering complications. Every night, before he goes to bed, Chavis hooks himself up to a home dialysis machine.
But many of his officers at the Kannapolis Police Department don’t even know he suffers the disease. Not that he hides it. Chavis just refuses to let it control his life.
“The main thing that surprised me was when I went on dialysis my doctor walked in and looked at me and goes, ‘You’re going to go on dialysis, but contrary to popular belief this is not a death sentence,’” Chavis said. “You can maintain and you can keep yourself alive and you can live a basically normal life.”
Chavis often shares that thought with other people who are just learning they have kidney issues. He visits a group at DaVita Dialysis Care Of Kannapolis and tells them how they can maintain a healthy life.
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