OKEECHOBEE COUNTY, Fla. — A third chance at life. That's what professional storm chaser and WPTV weather spotter Jeff Gammons is calling his second transplant surgery.
Gammons has been chasing storms for a living for nearly 30 years.
"Storm chasing is almost therapeutic to me," he said.
However, that was nearly stripped away from his when his kidney started to fail in 2005.
"You're tethered to a machine every other day, so it's hard to travel for storms," Gammons said. "I had to give up the hurricanes that were not affecting Florida."
A kidney transplant in 2009 got him back on the road doing what he loved — until recently.
"About two years ago my numbers started to show signs that my kidney was losing some of its function," Gammons said.
He was told in January that it was time for another transplant.
"My biggest fear was getting on a dialysis machine for about another four years because that's hard," Gammons said.
Little did he know, the perfect kidney donor was standing right next to him — his wife Sara.
"So, not only were we a blood match, but they tissue-typed us, and then we found out that our match was good," Gammons said.
"I feel like he came into my life for a reason and has changed my life so much and brought me so much joy and adventure," Sara Gammons said. "I didn't think about it. I just said, 'How do we do it?'"
He is already itching to get back to work chasing storms.
"As we sit here and do this interview, it's storming right now," Jeff Gammons said. "I wish I was out there taking pictures.
But just in 10 days, he'll have a new kidney and plenty more chances to track down storms.
"She's going to save my life," Jeff Gammons said.
