North Carolina State University Athletics
Avent To Participate In Kidney Walk Saturday
4/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 1, 2011
RALEIGH, N.C. — NC State baseball coach Elliott Avent and Wake Forest coach Tom Walter will take part Saturday in the National Kidney Foundation’s Raleigh Kidney Walk.
The Kidney Walk will begin at the North Hills Shopping Center. The ceremonies will commence at 8 a.m., and the walk is scheduled to begin about an hour later. Walter and Avent will be among the featured speakers, and both will take part in the two-mile walk to raise awareness for kidney donation.
This event in particular, and kidney donation in general, has special meaning in college baseball circles because of Walter. On Feb. 7, 2011, surgeons at the Emory Tranplant Center in Atlanta, Ga., removed one of Walter’s kidneys and transplanted it into freshman Kevin Jordan, a member of the Wake Forest baseball team.
A highly touted prospect from Columbus, Ga., Jordan suffers from Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Autoantibody (ANCA) vasculitis, a type of autoimmune swelling caused by autoantibodies that attack a person’s own cells. When these autoantibodies are present in the kidneys, they cause a leaking of blood and protein into the urine that eventually results in kidney failure.
“I think everyone in the coaching community was touched, blown away, really, by what Tom Walter did for Kevin Jordan,” Avent said. “That’s just an incredible thing he did for that young man. Words can’t even begin to describe the respect and admiration I have for such a courageous and generous sacrifice. I’m looking forward to Saturday’s kidney walk so I can help honor Tom and help raise awareness for this outstanding cause.”
While many have expressed their admiration for Walter’s personal sacrifice, he has downplayed the gesture.
“I would do anything to help any one of my players and any one of my family members,” Walter told the WakeForestSports.com website. “Anything that I could do in my power … to give them a better quality of life, is something I want to do. Maybe it’s something as little as helping mentor them in their academic pursuits or helping them choose a major, or something of a greater magnitude like this. But my number one priorities in life are my family and my team, and I will do anything to help any one of those people.”
For further information on the National Kidney Foundation's Kidney Walk, click here.
