Man's deportation leaves wife's transplant at risk (WTNH-CT)

Man's deportation leaves wife's transplant at risk

Aug. 30, 2008 4:45 PM

New Britain (AP) -- Congressman Christopher Murphy has stepped in on behalf of a New Britain woman who could lose her chance at a kidney transplant if her husband is deported to his native Poland.

Federal officials say 43-year-old Andrzej Nowakowski has violated residency rules because he was convicted and imprisoned on robbery and drug charges while living in the U.S.

The couple learned Friday that their appeal to stop his deportation had been rejected.

His wife, Vivian, says doctors have told her she can't have the kidney transplant unless her husband will be home to care for her during her recovery.

Vivian Nowakowski has been on dialysis for 14 years for end-stage renal failure, and her husband was her caregiver before his arrest and imprisonment.

Congressman Murphy has written to homeland security officials, asking them to consider the case's special humanitarian circumstances.