It made page three in the sports section of Caller-Times. Seems worthy of a better place than that. The baseball coach at Wake Forest gave a kidney to a freshman player who happens to be black. Coaches have to be careful of things they give to players. It can bring suspensions and firings. Surely NOT in this case.
Tom Walter is forty-two. He found out January 28 he was a match for a kidney transplant for Kevin Jordan. None of Kevin Jordan's family was. After some soul-searching Coach Walter consented. He told the Winston Salem Journal: "When we recruit our guys, we talk about family, and we talk about making sacrifices for one another, for our teammates. That's something we take very seriously, and I think this is something that anybody would do for a family member." Monday of this week both of them, coach and player, entered Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Doctors expect both to recover fully.
This story is not about winning. It is about giving. It is a one-time gift from Tom Walter. We only have two kidneys and they don't grow back. Kevin Jordan may never play another game at Wake Forest, but if all goes well he will have a new chance at life. He had been on daily dialysis and his kidney function was down to 8%. He was diagnosed with ANCA vasculitis, a type of auto immune disorder.
Tom Walter may never take a team to the college World Series at Omaha, but he is a winner for sure.
Jesus spoke of love and sacrifice in John 15. "This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's
life for his friends."
Coach Walter laid his life down for a college freshman because he preached sacrifice to his players. He didn't lose his life.....only a kidney (only?)....but he laid it down Monday. I doubt he will ever have to explain sacrifice to his team. He only has to show his scar.
