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opinion A Coach and Player win the Game of Life spring, several months later he was on dialysis three times a t He c urrY week. r epOrt But, Jordan had given his word to Coach Walter and he was deter- mined to keep it. George E. Keith Jordan, the star athlete’s Curry father, told CBS’ College Sports Network: “The thing he told us, because as parents we’re always trying to look out for his best interests, and (his) , he noticed that he had begun to mother is always trying tire easily. It was the winter of to make sure ‘Is this 2009 and his reflexes were notice- what you want to do?’ ably slower. At first, everyone His focus was, ‘I want thought he had the flu. By last to live as normal a life April, the 6’1,” 185-pounder had as I can. I’ve commit- lost 30 pounds. ted to the school and I Doctors in Columbus, Georgia want to do whatever I sent him to Emory University can to live up to that Hospital , in Atlanta , for addition- commitment.” al tests. It was determined that Last August, Jordan enrolled in Jordan was suffering from some- Wake Forest . Two days before thing far more serious than flu. He classes, Jordan, his family, Coach was diagnosed with ANCA vas- Walter, and the team’s athletic culitis, which occurs when one’s trainer visited Dr. Barry immune system begins attacking Freeman at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Wi n s t o n - S a l e m , N.C. “We had been Coach Tom Walter c o m m u n i c a t i n g with the Jordans last spring and through the summer,” Walter told the healthy cells in the body. In CBS. “But I had no idea of the this case, the ANCAs (Anti- extent of Kevin’s condition until Neutrophil Cytoplasmic that doctor’s appointment…That’s Autoantibodies) were attacking when the reality, the gravity of the the walls of the small blood cells situation hit me.” in Jordan ’s kidneys. The swelling Dr. Freeman reported that caused blood and protein to leak Jordan ’s kidney function had into his urine, which in turn dropped to only 8 percent of caused the kidneys to operate at about 15 to 20 percent of capaci- ty. After starting with 35 pills a day in the capacity. Before long, the deci- sion was made to increase dialysis from three times a week to every day. Rather than travel to the dial- ysis center every day, Jordan and Jeff Strahm, the baseball trainer, were taught how to self-administer the dialysis. Jordan would attend classes each day and at 11 p.m., he would hook up his dialysis machine and in the U.S. Jordan ’s mother and brother were tested as possible kidney donors but neither was a match. Jordan ’s father was excluded because of high blood pressure. After relatives were unable to donate a kidney, that’s when Coach Walter stepped up to the plate. He underwent compatibility tests last December in Winston-Salem and a month later at Emory. At 8 a.m., M o n d a y , Kevin Jordan February 7, Walter was wheeled into the operating room at Emory University hospital for the 90- minute procedure. By 11:15 a.m., Walter’s kidney was transplanted to Jordan, the outfielder who had not played a minute at Wake Forest. By 4 p.m. both men had recovered from surgery and were back in their hospital rooms. “Kevin even showing up on our campus was a courageous act on his part, certainly far more coura- geous than [what] I’m doing” Walter said. “Certainly Kevin and I are going to forever be joined at the hip.” george e. Curry, former editor- in-chief of emerge magazine and the nnPa news Service, is a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach. he can be reached through his web site, www.george- curry.com You can also follow him at www.twitter.com/currygeorge. ‘I’ve committed to the school and I want to do whatever I can to live up to that commitment.” “Certainly Kevin and I are going to forever be joined at the hip.” What’s going on around the Northwest? And now you can add your own announcements, events and public services to The Skanner Website. Just go to http://www.theskanner.com/your-beat and register. I t is a story that reaffirms one’s faith in humans. The Associated Press headline last month read: “Coach Donates Kidney to Player.” It didn’t take long to learn that Tom Walter, the baseball coach at Wake Forest University, had donated one of his kidneys to Kevin Jordan, a fresh- man outfielder who had never suited up for the team. The story of the White Coach donating a kidney to a Black ath- lete from Columbus, Georgia tran- scends sports; it supersedes the strong bond that unites a coach with his players. It is not a com- mentary on Black-White relation- ships. Rather, it is a story of two courageous people whose com- mitments to each other went beyond offering or accepting an athletic scholarship. Kevin Jordan, now 19, was one of the nation’s top baseball prospects as a student at Northside-Columbus High in Georgia . He had made the all-city team and was so good that the New York Yankees drafted him. But, Jordan signed a let- ter of intent to attend Wake Forest and unlike many young athletes tempted by money, he planned to keep his commitment. “Kevin is one of the most highly touted players in the country,” Coach Walter said at the time. “He possesses game-changing speed … plus power. He is the kind of offensive talent that opposing coaches have to manage around. He will be an impact player from the moment he sets foot on campus.” During Jordan’s senior year in high school, before he would have an opportunity to set foot on the campus of Wake Forest University stay connected until 8 a.m. the next day. He never missed a class. Three and a half months later, Jordan was told that he needed a kidney transplant. Under normal circumstances, Jordan ’s name would be placed on a waiting list and there are never enough donors to meet the need. According to the United Network of Organ Sharing, there are more than 80,000 people awaiting a kidney transplant. In 2009, there were only 10,442 donors (For more information, check out the National Kidney Foundation at www.kidney.org). Blacks made up 12 percent of the U.S. population, but only three percent of organ donors. According to the National Kidney Foundation, African-Americans constitute about 29 percent of all patients treated for kidney failure Please Recycle this Newspaper Caldwell’s, Hennessey, Goetsch & McGee Funeral Home Von D. Bailey Funeral Director 20 NE 14th Avenue Portland, OR 97232 503-232-4111 Fax 503-231-1586 von.bailey@sci-us.com March 9, 2011 The Portland Skanner page 5
