LITITZ, Pa. — Lee Poje worked as a New York City Police Department Sergeant in charge of the Manhattan warrant squad.
He was off work on the morning of September 11, 2001.
"I turned it on, I saw both planes hit, my wife was in a building right across the street," said Poje. "I didn't hear from her for about eight hours. I actually thought that she was dead. I thought I was going to have to tell my kids at school they're mom isn't there."
His wife arrived home that evening.
"She came home," Poje said. "A big happy reunion. A lot of tears."
The next day Poje and his crew were tasked with a very difficult job.
"For six months, 12 hour days, six days a week, we worked different sites in Manhattan," he said. "Part of our job was to notify the different family members that unfortunately their husband, who was a firefighter died in either tower one or Tower Two."
He says it was important to him to give closure to these families that had lost so much.
"They want to know what happened," he said. "They want to have something that they can bury and grieve over as supposed to I have no idea what happened to them."
But the long hours and emotional exhaustion took toll on him.
Not long after, he learned he had heart and kidney problems.
"I was told that over a period of time, it's going to get worse and worse until eventually you're going to need to be on dialysis," said Poje. "Two years ago that happened."
Since then, he's been doing dialysis everyday for six hours.
He says he's hoping to find a kidney donor that will give him the chance to live a more normal life.
"To me it's worth it," he said. "To get off that machine."
If you want to get tested to donate you can call: 717-627-7702.
Or e-mail: kidneyforleepoje@gmail.com