1) Wake Forest baseball coach Tom Walter donated one of his kidneys to player Kevin Jordan, who was suffering from kidney failure. 2) Jordan had been highly recruited but got sick in his senior year of high school, causing him to drop in the MLB draft. He enrolled at Wake Forest but continued to get sicker. 3) Unable to find a match among family members, Jordan reached out to Walter, who volunteered to be tested and was found to be a match. He donated his kidney to Jordan in February 2011.

1. OVERCOMING ADVERSITY
NCAA Division I Baseball Regionals and Super Regionals
Photo by Brian Westerholt/Sports on Film
Kevin Jordan threw out the first pitch before Wake Forest’s game against Miami (Florida) on March 18, 2011. Jordan was visiting Wake Forest for
the first time since he received a kidney transplant on February 7, 2011, from head coach Tom Walter (right).
The ultimate sacrifice
Wake Forest’s Kevin Jordan returns to the field a year after receiving a kidney from coach Tom Walter
By Brendan Bergen What Walter didn’t realize at the time, however, The evaluators salivated over Jordan’s raw ability
is that Jordan would end up being a life-changing to hit, hit with power, run, throw and field. The
W
hen Tom Walter convinced Kevin player before he even had a chance to contribute power, in particular, helped him place second overall
Jordan to come play baseball at on the field. in the 2009 Bo Jackson Five-Tool Contest, where
Wake Forest, the Demon Deacon he took the power portion with six home runs (sev-
head coach knew he had signed a game-changer, a Draft ready eral of which went further than 400 feet). The guy
five tool-type player to roam the outfield for his In between Jordan’s junior and senior seasons at who finished first, Wagner Mateo, signed with the
quickly-improving program. Northland High School in Columbus, Georgia, Arizona Diamondbacks and was considered among
“He is the kind of offensive talent that opposing there was no shortage of professional scouts who the top international prospects available.
coaches have to manage around,” said Walter at believed they were looking at a sure-thing high In June 2010, Jordan’s name was called by the
the time of Jordan’s commitment in November selection in the 2010 MLB First-Year Player Draft. Yankees in the 19th round of the First-Year Player
2009. “He will be an impact player from the At the very least he’d be a guy to watch, go to Draft. It was a little later than expected, but the
moment he sets foot on campus.” Wake Forest and start from day one. prep star was dealing with a persistent illness that
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2. OVERCOMING ADVERSITY
NCAA Division I Baseball Regionals and Super Regionals
dogged him throughout his senior sea-
son. Flu-like symptoms had caused him
to drop 20 pounds from his 6-1, 185-
pound frame and sapped him of much of
his strength.
“Before any of the sickness happened,
I was hearing that I’d go in the top five
rounds,” Jordan said. “After watching the
first few rounds, where I thought I should
have been drafted before the sickness, it
got to me a little bit. But I tried to keep
my head as level as possible and just kept
thinking about the future.”
He played out the rest of his senior
season, but admits he was lagging. And it
Photo by Brian Westerholt/Sports on Film
only got worse as Georgia temperatures
began to spike.
“We found out what was actually
wrong before my last game in the elite
eight of the playoffs, and I felt OK. It was-
n’t like I was, but I was satisfied,” Jordan
said. “It was, ‘if I stay here and take the rest
of the summer off I might be all right.’ ”
After his last game, Jordan’s condition Jordan returned to the field one year and 10 days after his kidney transplant.
began to worsen. He knew he wouldn’t
have been able to continue even if his team would before coming back to his dorm room and hooking to take over a year at least to figure out all that stuff.”
have advanced, but no one around him even knew himself up to the machine at 11 p.m. He stayed As a result of the difficulties of finding a match,
anything was wrong. connected until 8 a.m. the next day. Jordan dropped out of classes during the 2011
“I didn’t tell any of my teammates any of this stuff “It was just inconsistent. Some days I would have spring semester.
until just now,” Jordan said. “We went out, I hit two energy to go and do stuff and other days it would “But we ended up finding a match before spring
home runs in the first two games of the series. After completely drain me,” Jordan said. “When I didn’t ball even started,” said Jordan, who discovered there
that night, I was throwing up. I was as sick as I’ve have any energy, I would just lie in bed all day. I’d was a willing donor in the man who recruited him
ever been. I was just absolutely drained, and that’s get up for classes, and if I felt good I’d go to prac- to come to Wake Forest.
when we knew we had to get the process going.” tice, hang out, shag balls, stuff like that.” During the fall, Walter told Jordan’s father,
Jordan also ended up on a strictly controlled diet Keith, that he would be willing to go through com-
Diagnosis, treatment and a long and had to be on the lookout for phosphorous, pro- patibility testing to see if he was a match. Initially,
road to recovery tein and potassium — all of which can cause the the Jordans declined the coaches’ offer. But once a
The ordeal really began for Jordan in the first few kidneys to work harder than usual. direct match could not be found within the family,
months of 2010 when he was referred to doctors at “I couldn’t have some of the things I loved the they reached out to him.
Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, roughly two most. Peanuts have a ton of phosphorous in them, “The last person they tested was his brother, and
hours from his Columbus, Georgia, home, and it you think they’re healthy, but no. Whole wheat has a I think they found out sometime in mid-December
was discovered his kidney was functioning at 15 to ton of phosphorous,” Jordan said. “Things that you that the brother wasn’t going to be a match,” Walter
20 percent. think are healthy were killing my diet. I couldn’t eat said. “As soon as I found that out, Mr. Jordan and I
Jordan was officially diagnosed with ANCA vas- a banana; it was tough.” were in contact and he said ‘Well, Coach if you’re
culitis, a kind of autoimmune swelling disorder A transplant was going to be the best option, and still willing.’ I said ‘Absolutely, just tell me what I
caused by abnormal antibodies. The disease can so family member after family member began the need to do.’ He gave me the phone number of the
cause blood and protein to leak into the urine and process of getting tested. None of them proved to be living donor coordinator here in Winston-Salem. I
typically results in complete kidney failure. a good match. called her immediately and set up my appointment
Dialysis, essentially an artificial purification of “I never gave up, because I knew I had a pretty to come in and get my blood work done.”
the blood, was the first step for Jordan, at first, just good supporting cast, so it would have started to go The process is complicated and takes about five
a few times a week, and then daily. During his first to maybe some of my friends or other people I’ve weeks, but Walter learned he was a match on the
semester at Wake Forest in the fall of 2010, Jordan known outside of the family,” Jordan said. “But we first day of spring practice on January 28, 2011. A
would go to class and practice as much as he could hadn’t gotten any of that stuff together, it was going 42-year-old father of two, Walter never wavered in
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3. OVERCOMING ADVERSITY
NCAA Division I Baseball Regionals and Super Regionals
his decision to make the sacrifice for a player who “All in all, I can’t be mad,” Jordan said. “It’s just
had never even taken the field for him. frustrating when I come up and need to help the
“Certainly, down the line, the risks on my end team out and I can’t do it. But there’s really not any
would be that, I might have something happen to time to worry about what you can’t control, and at
my one kidney and I would be left with none,” this point I can’t control that. I can just play, and
Walter said. “That’s not something that’s even on play to the best of my abilities.”
my radar screen. I’m not worried about that. You
can’t plan for that, that’s like telling yourself you’re Inspired play
not going to leave the house because you might get The totality of the experience has changed Jordan’s
hit by a car.” outlook not just on baseball, but on life as well.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and “I have more of a voice, and I want to be a voice
Human Services, 109,719 people are currently for people that are going through something hard
waiting on an organ donation and 18 people die and need something to be positive about,” Jordan
each day when one does not arrive. Before Walter’s said. “I want to be able to talk to people, whether
willingness to provide Jordan with a living donor, it’s on television or something else, I want to be able
he was told he may have to wait three to five years to talk to people and influence them.”
for an organ donation. Jordan reports he keeps in regular contact with a
Walter downplays the gravity of his sacrifice, handful of people who have also been affected by
Photo by Brian Westerholt/Sports on Film
however. renal failure, and does what he can to help keep
“First and foremost, Kevin even showing up on their spirits high.
our campus, I thought, was a courageous act on his “It’s really refreshing to help people,” Jordan said.
part. Certainly, far more courageous than anything “Mostly, it’s just casual conversation. It’s not about
I’m doing,” Walter said. “For him to be a freshman what’s going on, but if any news pops up I try to
in college, not knowing anybody on campus and calm them down if they’re worried about it.”
having to be in a room on dialysis. I think it just Still, like his coach, he struggles to view himself as
took an incredible … the word I keep coming back an inspiration and remains humble about his story.
to is courage.” Jordan has shown flashes of the potential “I could see how somebody could (look at me as an
Walter might be one of the leading authorities on this season that made him a 19th-round pick inspiration), but the whole thing — I just feel very
bravery, as he has seen his share of trying times. The of the New York Yankees in 2010. lucky,” Jordan said. “I see Coach as the inspiration
third-year head coach came to Wake Forest in 2009 because he stepped up. I accepted it, I just accepted it.
after leading a shaken New Orleans ball club to the lineup for Wake Forest’s first game of the 2012 From day one he was willing to do whatever it took,
back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances in season at New Mexico State on February 17, one and he just wants things to be as normal as possible,
the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. year and 10 days after the operation. because I know he would have done that for anybody
After getting word he was a match, Walter and It was an up-and-down debut, as Jordan struck else on the team. So now it’s just playing baseball.”
Jordan scheduled the surgery for February 7. The out in his first three plate appearances before Playing the game after an arduous two years,
early-morning procedure took place at the Emory rebounding to record his first collegiate hit in his Jordan had appeared in all but 12 of Wake Forest’s
Transplant Center in Atlanta, Georgia, where fourth trip to the plate. first 47 games.
more than 600 living donor kidney operations Other milestones have passed since. Jordan hit his He is doing what he initially set out to do and
have occurred. first home run in a 13-4 rout of Valparaiso on March has shown flashes of his game-changing tools — the
The surgery was an unequivocal success. Walter 6, and starts regularly in left field. Strikeouts are still ones that brought him to the ACC in the first place
was back at practice in four days. as frustrating as ever, however, said Jordan, who — in left field and at the plate as he learns to play
For Jordan, however, it would be a longer road to would like to see his batting average climb a bit. at the highest level of collegiate baseball.
recovery. “If you tell me that I have to take a year off of Jordan has added another tool, however, since his
baseball for any reason, not just being sick, and I’m days as a highly touted prep star. The ability to
Returning to the field going to hit .220. I’d say that would make sense,” inspire. Ultimately, that could be the biggest game-
Just over seven months later, fall practice arrived Jordan said. “Baseball is not a game you can take a changer of all as he progresses in baseball and life.
and Jordan officially joined his Demon Deacon year off from. I always viewed baseball as, ‘if you “Great things are happening out there every day,”
teammates for the first time on September 27. At don’t play all year round you’ll drop off a lot.’ ” Walter said. “Every day I get a phone call or an email
the time, he reported feeling “100 percent” and Still, even going through the typical freshman about somebody whose life has been changed by an
showed it by running a 6.5-second 60-yard sprint scuffles, he finds it a lot harder to complain when organ donation. I just think that’s really special stuff.
— the best of any Deac. taking into account the situations of other people There’s people out there doing amazing things every-
With no major setbacks during recovery, Jordan with his condition and the process that has led him day that you don’t hear about, so I guess the message
impressed throughout the fall and was inserted into back to baseball. is just give back and love one another.”
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