College Baseball Coach Donates Life-Saving Kidney to One of His Own Players
- Posted on February 9, 2011 at 1:20am by
Meredith Jessup
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Coach Tom Walter
(AP/The Blaze) — Wake Forest baseball coach Tom Walter has donated a kidney to a freshman player who suffers from a disease that can lead to kidney failure.
Both Walter and outfielder Kevin Jordan were recovering Tuesday in an Atlanta hospital one day after the transplant was performed.
“For us, it‘s almost like it’s been divine intervention,” Jordan’s father Keith told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday from Atlanta.
Dr. Kenneth Newell, the lead surgeon on the team that removed Walter’s kidney, said in a statement issued Tuesday by Wake Forest that he expects Walter and Jordan to recover fully.
The school says the recovery time for both the 42-year-old Walter and Jordan is expected to be several months. Walter said it will be two months before he is back to normal. Keith Jordan says his son could swing a bat again in 6-8 weeks, and he expects Kevin to enroll in summer school in June and prepare for the fall semester.
Wake Forrest freshman Kevin Jordan
For now, though, he said the priority for his son is the early stage of recovery, which includes taking short walks in the hospital Tuesday and making sure his incision doesn’t become infected.
“I think he’s feeling great, outside of he’s still got a couple of tubes hanging out of him,” Keith Jordan said.
Keith Jordan said he isn’t worrying about when his son, a 19th-round draft pick of the New York Yankees last June, may return to the field.
“One of the things we do know for Kevin is, he’s going to want to go do stuff right away,” Keith Jordan said. “He’s going to have to take care of himself. … His intention is to get back on the field, so I‘m sure he’s going to do whatever it takes to do that.”
Walter said the “best-case scenario is that Kevin and I just lead a normal life“ but added that the great story will come when Jordan ”makes it back to the playing field.”
Jordan had trouble shaking the flu last winter as a high school senior in Columbus, Ga., and lost 20 pounds. Doctors at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta discovered his kidney was functioning at only 15 to 20 percent.
He was diagnosed last April with ANCA vasculitis, a type of autoimmune swelling disorder caused by abnormal antibodies. When those abnormalities show up in the kidneys, they can cause blood and protein to leak into the urine and could result in kidney failure.
He wound up on dialysis — three days a week at first, and then daily. Family members were tested to see if any were a possible match for a transplant, and Walter was tested in December after it was determined that his relatives weren’t compatible.
Walter found out Jan. 28, during the team’s first practice of the spring semester, that he was a match. He told the team three days later, and said the players greeted the news with “stunned silence followed by a round of applause.”
“A lot of things had to come together for it to happen,” Keith Jordan said. “Everybody wants a feel-good story wherever they can get it.”
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SOBama
Posted on February 9, 2011 at 3:04pmTeaParty:
AMEN!
Report Post »TeaParty_InTheSky
Posted on February 9, 2011 at 12:55pmomg, people GROW UP!!!!!!!!!!! This isnt a left or right thing that he did. It was a kind act straight from the heart. He gave his kidney to save that kids life. EVERYONE STOP WITH THE POLITICAL BS, THATS WHATS WRONG WITH EVERYTHING NOW. A BRAVE, LOVING, GENEROUS ACT, AND YALL ARE ALREADY POLITICIZING IT. STOP, ACT AS IF POLITICS DIDNT EXIST AND SEE THE LOVE AND GENEROSITY BEHIND IT! GOD BLESS THEM BOTH MY PRAYERS GO TO A SPEEDY RECOVERY
Report Post »LukeAppling
Posted on February 9, 2011 at 9:58amWOW! What an act of kindness. This is what Jesus Christ has been teaching since his arrival.
Report Post »I pray for the success for both of them and that this will prompt more kind acts.
rfycom
Posted on February 9, 2011 at 11:15amYes this is very Jesus like. He also favored the poor and the powerless. Wait!!! Jesus sounds like a liberal. Oh My God!!!!!!
JoeFriday
Posted on February 9, 2011 at 9:03amthis is what is meaning of giving is, God Bless you coach
Report Post »rfycom
Posted on February 9, 2011 at 7:04amWhat a liberal thing to do.
Report Post »badswing
Posted on February 9, 2011 at 8:12amyes, its funny that you would think liberals would be more giving with an ideology like that but when you look at the stats, espescially concerning donations to charities (ie biden), liberals fail miserably. on the other hand when donations concern other peoples money, they are very very giving.
Report Post »middleclassprophet
Posted on February 9, 2011 at 8:40amAnd when it comes to working for non-profits and volunteering, conservatives fail to even show up.
Report Post »rfycom
Posted on February 9, 2011 at 8:48amBadswing, that was a very conservative thing to say. I’m not liberal or conservative, but giving an organ and giving money are two different this entirely. According to the National Foundation for Organ donations, 72% of all organ donations where made by people who listed themselves as, liberal. Better make some liberal friends quick.
Report Post »Diane TX
Posted on February 9, 2011 at 3:20amIt certainly seems that Divine intervention was involved. Kevin Jordan’s best match was his coach, when none of his blood relatives were.
I’m wishing that both of them have speedy recoveries, and have joyful lives.
Report Post »Marylou7
Posted on February 9, 2011 at 5:51amI feel the same way Diane, why Wake Forest? Isn’t it great when someone puts others before themselves!!!
Report Post »cykonas
Posted on February 10, 2011 at 8:48amI somehow missed this story until the news on TV last night. What a great story! Good luck and God speed to both Mr. Jordan and Coach Walter.
Report Post »mossbrain
Posted on February 9, 2011 at 2:31amA similar type of procedure has been tried before as evidenced by the video below;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWHNA_j7h5A
Good luck!
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on February 9, 2011 at 6:34amI offer up my prayers and best wishes and hope for them and for the success in a full recovery.
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on February 9, 2011 at 6:45amThat was truly pathetic to post something so crass, I don’t care to whom you refer, after such a selfless story. I hope you, or anyone in your family, are never in that situation. But if you are, I hope someone will step in and save your life.
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on February 9, 2011 at 7:15amSorry, MOSSBRAIN, jumped the gun on my comment. No coffee in my system yet. I apologize.
Report Post »Morning, SNOW, had an over-reaction above. Hope you are having a good week. How are your mom and friend doing? They are still in my prayers.
Again, MOSSBRAIN, sorry.