It didn’t take long for Tom Walter to decide what he had to do.
Last August, the Wake Forest University head baseball coach sat and listened to doctor explain what freshman Kevin Jordan had been going through during the previous few months. After about 10 minutes of hearing of Jordan’s suffering due to ANCA vasculitis, a type of autoimmune swelling caused by autoantibodies, Walter decided immediately that if he could help his player, he would.
The disease was causing kidney failure for Jordan, who still was determined to attend classes at Wake Forest, and participate, although limited, in fall baseball practice despite undergoing kidney dialysis nightly in his dorm room.
Doctors began looking for a kidney donor starting with Jordan’s family members but his mother and brother were not matches.
“I didn’t want Kevin to wait one more day,” Walter said.
Coach Walter volunteered to be tested, and while attending the Demon Deacons’ first day of spring practice on Jan. 28 he got a call that his kidney was a match for Jordan. He told the team of the decision a few days later, and but they were not completely surprised by the news.
“Tom Walter would do anything for one of his players or former players,” WFU senior outfielder Steven Brooks said. “It was only surprising because it was such a major surgery. He’s always willing to help his players in whatever way he can.”
The kidney transplant was performed on Feb. 7 at the Emory Transplant Center in Atlanta with Dr. Kenneth Newell and Dr. Alan Kirk as the lead surgeons.
“Two days ago, Kevin had kidney failure, and one day and 23 hours ago, he didn’t,” Dr. Kirk said during news conference held Wednesday morning. “That’s the really remarkable thing about this situation he was in. In a short period of time, the generosity of one individual can change from a situation that is quite devastating to one that is quite hopeful.”
Newell commented how remarkable that the coach and player were a match that actually resulted in a transplant.
“It is quite rare this worked out this way,” Dr. Newell said. “Last year, we had about 850 people call and express interest to be considered as a kidney donor for someone. Of those people, we evaluated about 150 and only about half of those went on to be transplants. There are all sorts of reasons for that, but if you go back to the point where Coach Walter first called, the odds are about 15 percent that you actually get to this stage.”
Both Jordan and Walter, 42, are recovering well from the surgeries. Walter is set to return to Winston-Salem on Thursday, and will check in with his team on Friday, although he will watch practice from the stands. Doctors expect Walter to attend the Demon Deacons’ season-opening game on Feb. 18 at LSU, and say it to take about a month before he is fully recovered from the donation surgery.
“I know he won’t be at 100 percent for a while, but the coaches have really trained us to be accountable to ourselves,” Brooks said. “Although it is great to have ‘Walt’ there, he’s taught us that you have to give 100 percent all the time, not just when the coaches are around.”
Jordan --who was drafted in the 19th round last year by the New York Yankees -- feels great, but is still sore from the surgery, and is hoping to be released from the hospital on Friday and return to his parents’ home in Columbus, Ga. Doctors expect Jordan to be swinging a bat again in about eight weeks, although Walter just wants his young player to lead a long, healthy life.
“Baseball is not the No. 1 priority in our lives,” Walter said. “This has never been about getting Kevin back on the field. This has always been about the chance for Kevin to have a normal life. The day he gets back on the field will be a great day for all of us. I truly hope you’re all back for that because that’s going to be the real story.”
For now, the story is one of a selfless act of generosity that has left Jordan practically speechless when trying to express his gratitude.
“I’m really thankful,” Jordan said. “I don’t think I have the words for it my vocabulary.”
