Coach Tom Walter and Kevin Jordan
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Not many people would volunteer to donate a kidney, especially to someone they barely know, but that is exactly what Wake Forest baseball coach Tom Walter did.
Freshman outfielder Kevin Jordan suffered from ANCA vasculitis, a condition in which abnormal antibodies were causing his white blood cells to attack healthy tissue in his body. He needed a kidney and none of his family members were a match.
Walter decided to have himself tested and he was a match. After thinking it over and talking with his family Walter made the decision donate a kidney to Kevin.
"When we recruit our guys, we talk about family and making sacrifices for one another. 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," Walter said before the operation.
The operation took place Monday (February 7) at Emory Hospital in Atlanta and both men are expected to make a full recovery.
While doctors aren't sure if Kevin will play baseball again, he has his health thanks to his coach.
"If [Jordan] makes it back to the playing field, that would be a great story. But I just want him to have a normal life and have the chance to be a normal college student," Walter said.
Kevin's father Keith, feels like a higher power led his son to Wake Forest and Walter.
"It's like divine intervention when you look at everything that happened and how we even got to Wake Forest," Jordan said. "And then to meet a coach like Coach Walter and look at some of the things he had been through and done, and then to now do this, you just can't express it in words."
Information from ESPN was used in this report
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