The family of a New Brighton man killed after falling from the luggage rack of a fast-moving vehicle in an incident Friday in Cranberry is giving the gift of life to his best friend and neighbor.
Andrew Dietz, 27, is thanking his best friend while recovering from a kidney transplant at UPMC Montefiore. Dietz received the kidney from his neighbor, 27-year-old Ryan Minett, who died in an accident in Cranberry.
Eric Minett has been mourning the loss of his son, but he remembered his son’s friend.
“We were sitting there talking and it just clicked,” Eric Minett told Post-Gazette news partner KDKA-TV. “I’m like, ‘His buddy needs a kidney,’ and the people at CORE actually said, ‘Well, we can check.'”
“Truly amazing, the most difficult decision of your life, and you’re thinking of your neighbor, you’re thinking of a kid who’s in need,” Rob Dietz, Andrew’s father, told KDKA.
Andrew suffers from a rare kidney disease called FSGS and needed a transplant. When doctors discovered his and Ryan Minett’s blood types matched, Andrew was moved to the top of the donor list and went into surgery overnight.
“He woke up, and his spirits were high. They said he had a really good blood flow and the heart was good,” Rob Dietz said. “Everything looked good at that point.”
“I think it’s definitely what [Ryan] would have wanted,” Eric Minett said.
Police said Ryan Minett was clinging to the luggage rack of his girlfriend’s SUV as the 28-year-old Cranberry woman sped along residential streets for a half-mile — the boyfriend screaming for onlookers to “Call 911” and “Call the police” — until he fell from the vehicle, his body hurtling 53 feet before colliding with a light post.
Officials said Ryan Minett died from his injuries Saturday evening at UPMC Presbyterian, where he had been taken in critical condition following the incident, which happened around 4:30 p.m. Friday.
His girlfriend — Jessica Ann Royall of Cranberry — has been charged with felony assault and drunken driving. She’s being held in the Butler County Jail. Cranberry Police Chief Kevin Meyer said Sunday that the list of the charges will be amended to include a homicide count after the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled ruled his death a homicide Sunday.
Ms. Royall told police she had been arguing with Ryan Minett, who was living with her, although his most recent address, according to his driver’s license was in New Brighton.
She told police “different accounts of her intentions,” including that she was leaving the house to prevent an argument and that she was going to drive to North Huntingdon to pick up her children.
She told police, according to the affidavit, that her boyfriend “confronted” her in the driveway and “held onto the vehicle as she drove away.” She said she stopped the vehicle at least four times to allow him to “let go.” But he didn’t.
First Published: March 26, 2018, 11:49 a.m.
