Video: Tom Walter - Taking One for the Team

Written by Manfred Phua.

Tom Walter has no Emmys, Golden Globes nor any performance awards to his name. As a matter of fact the only few accomplishments and honors he has garnered are centered on baseball. But it is neither his accolades nor his stature in society that makes him extraordinarily special and an inspiration to all. Tom Walter sacrificed a part of himself so that another may live.

Kevin Jordan was one of the few youths that were selected by the New York Yankees in an amateur draft when he started to fall ill in January 2010. He fell so severely ill that his performance in baseball took a noticeable dive. After visiting more than twenty doctors and 5 months of uncertainty, Kevin and his parents finally had a diagnosis: his kidneys were functioning at only 8% due to ANCA vascuilitis, a disease that causes his white blood cells to attack the healthy tissues in his body.

Doctors immediately put Kevin on an intensive dialysis treatment that took up18-20 hours a day, along with heavy doses of steroids. Despite the doctors’ best efforts, there was no improvement in Kevin’s condition. Doctors then came to the conclusion that Kevin needed a kidney transplant, and they immediately performed tests to see if Kevin’s immediate family were suitable donors. It came as a huge shock to the family when they discovered that no one in the family was a viable match. He was then placed on the National Organ Donor wait list, which had a wait time of 4 to 5 years. The future looked bleak for Kevin until his coach, Tom Walters, stepped into the picture.
"When we recruit our guys, we talk about family and making sacrifices for one another," Walter said before the operation. "It is something we take very seriously. I had the support of my family, Wake Forest and my team. To me it was a no-brainer." Coach Walter stepped up to the plate and underwent a series of tests that spanned over six weeks to see if he was a viable donor. On the 28th of January 2011, he received a call informing him that it was a match.

When asked a simple question, ‘Why donate,’ Walter gave a similarly simple answer, ‘”I’m not gonna sit by and watch this man fight for his life when I can help.” It was a simple answer, yet it is so profound in a world where everyone cares most for himself.

As we carry on with our lives this week, allow me to put forth a simple suggestion: Start caring for the less fortunate, even if it is in small simple ways. Whether it is putting some money into the hat of a street busker or buying food for a homeless guy you encounter, let us all do our part.