‘She saved my life’: Police officer receives life-saving transplant from woman he put in jail 8 years ago
LOS ANGELES - What if you were given the opportunity to save the life of someone who once saved yours? One Alabama woman did just that.
Jocelynn James, a recovered drug addict and former member of “Franklin’s Most Wanted,” saved the life of the police officer who put her in jail nearly a decade ago.
Between 2007-2012, James was arrested 16 times for theft and drug charges. James says she was in a very dark place and didn’t know if she would survive.
“I was just living a really bad life, doing a lot of really bad things that I shouldn’t have had no business doing, and I was just a really lost person,” James said.
Terrell Potter, a former officer with Phil Campbell Police Department, said James was going through a difficult place in her life.
“She was out running crazy, stealing and doing drugs and things she shouldn’t be doing,” Potter said. “I locked her up a couple of times.”
James said she was finally able to get her life straightened out, and on Nov. 5, she will celebrate eight years out of jail and eight years sober.
“I was sick of living that life, and I wanted to do something different,” James said.
James said Potter saved her life by arresting her and leading her to turn her life around. “I’m perfect, I’m healthy, and I had no idea that I was that healthy,” James said.
Last November, Potter learned that his kidney was failing, only functioning at 5%. Doctors told Potter that he would face a seven to eight-year waiting period for a kidney.
“We began praying about getting the right kidney,” Potter said. “We were looking all over the Southeast.
”Little did Potter expect that the perfect match would be just two miles away.
Jocelynn James, a recovered drug addict, saved the life of the police officer who put her in jail nearly a decade ago
After scrolling on her phone on Facebook, James learned that Potter needed a kidney. “I just threw my phone down and the holy spirit told me right then that I had that man’s kidney.”
After a series of hospital tests, James learned that they were a perfect match.
“If you asked me 100 names of who may give me a kidney, her name would have not been on the list,” Potter said. “It’s just unbelievable that she was willing to do that.”
On July 21, Potter received a successful kidney transplant. “All the numbers were great. It started working from the time it was put in,” Potter said.
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Potter now considers James like another daughter. “It’s made a great relationship and a bond between us that can go forever. There’s no doubt about that,” Potter said. “Her giving me a kidney, It extended my life.”
James cited her faith and said it was very humbling that God would use a piece of her, with a body that she says she harmed for a long time, to extend someone’s life.
Terrell Potter, a retired police offer, received kidney transplant on July 21, 2020
“God restored me from the inside out, and to be able to give another human a kidney to extend his life is really rewarding,” James said.
James currently runs a non-profit organization called The Place of Grace, where she helps get women treatment. “I want people to realize that there is help out there for them,” James said. “It doesn’t matter what happens in your life. You can always turn it around.”