New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
By Alison Kuznitz
State House News Service
Sen. Adam Gomez underwent a kidney transplant last week and is still receiving care at a Boston hospital.
Gomez, 39, had been on dialysis for a year and a half, receiving treatments three times each week after his kidney functioning dropped from 30 percent to 7 percent, campaign manager Johnnie Ray McnKight told the News Service Monday afternoon.
The Springfield Democrat is slated to be released from Brigham and Women’s Hospital Tuesday and will need to quarantine for three months, Mcnight said. Gomez will ease into working remotely, though McKnight said the senator was already sending work emails from his hospital bed over the weekend.
“He’s doing really well. He’s in good spirits — I haven’t seen him this upbeat for about three years, four years,” said McKnight, who’s been friends with Gomez for more than 15 years. “The operation went really well.”
Gomez learned about the potential kidney donation on social media last Thursday. A Springfield woman from Gomez’s district who just lost her 42-year-old father posted on Facebook about wanting to potentially donate his organs. Gomez messaged the woman, who determined he was a “good candidate” for the kidney, McKnight said.
Later Thursday, after a series of tests, doctors determined the kidney was a match for Gomez, and by the next day, they were prepping him for surgery.
“I’m grateful, I’m recovering but in all honesty it’s my story to tell and the family that stepped up for me,” Gomez wrote on social media Monday morning. “A father lost his life. To his daughter and family I am extremely grateful. More information soon to come. But please be patient due to my recovery process.”
Gomez’s team remains “available for constituents needs,” the senator said, and people can continue contacting his State House and district offices.
Gomez serves as the co-chair of the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy, as well as vice chair of the Joint Committee on Election Laws and the Joint Committee on Racial Equity, Civil Rights and Inclusion. A former Springfield city councilor, he was sworn in this year to his second term in the Senate.
“Adam’s a fighter. It’s a fight ahead, but this guy has overcome so much in his life,” said McKnight, adding Gomez will need to overhaul his diet and workout regimen.
Sen. Jake Oliveira said he was “elated” to learn about Gomez’s life-saving kidney transplant.
“For those who don’t know, Senator Gomez has been bravely battling chronic kidney disease and undergoing dialysis for some time,” Oliveira, a Ludlow Democrat, said on Twitter Monday. “In the face of it all, his passion for serving others never faltered, and his compassion for those in need never wavered. He put his constituents first in the face of unimaginable hardship and proved his commitment to service is second to none.”
