A great demonstration of a coach who doesn't just "talk the talk" about a team becoming a family or sacrifice. This guy "walks the walk" in a way that shows he has a true understanding of the concept of the servant-leader. It's easy for coaches to call for sacrifice in the name of team unity when the direction of the sacrifice is moving from others and towards enriching them. This coach stood tall when the equation was flipped in reverse.
According to the founder of the concept of servant leadership, Robert K. Greenleaf, a servant leader makes sure the highest priority needs of others are being met, which leads them to become "healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants. The goal of servant leadership is to serve others. You change yourself and then you change one person at a time. And the movement grows. The change you desire to see in the world begins with yourself. Coach Walter definitely fits the mold with his actions.
A truly remarkable story. I believe either the coach or one of the players parents referred to the circumstances that led to this as "divine intervention". Amen to that.
The most discouraging part of the story and evidence that the NCAA is an out of control bureaucracy is that the Wake Forest athletic department felt compelled to check-in and make sure that this selfless, benevolent act was in violation of the NCAA's rules regarding extra benefits to athletes.
Something is rotten in college sports in general and that organization in particular when an act like this could even remotely be considered questionable while at the same time it takes them years and years to see the wrongdoing surrounding athletes like Reggie Bush and (S)Cam Newton.
http://sportscasm.com/2011/02/10/wake-forest-coach-donates-own-kidney-to-one-of-his-players/
Coaches are often to do whatever it takes for their players. These kids are often like the coach’s own children. They not only see the kids as athletes, but as young people who need to be mentored and pointed in all the right directions.
Sometimes, however, coaches go above and beyond what anyone would expect. Such is the story of Wake Forest Baseball coach, Tom Walter, who gave one of his players his own kidney.
Wake Forest’s slogan for the baseball team in 2011 is “What are you willing to sacrifice to help make this team better?”Head coach Tom Walter’s intent was to have his players thinking about sacrifice bunts, moving runners over, and giving up personal glory to help the Demon Deacons improve as a team.
But what Walter chose to sacrifice is greater than simply hanging in on a curve ball and taking one for the team.
Walter gave up a kidney.
In a procedure performed Monday (Feb. 7) at the Emory Transplant Center in Atlanta, Walter had one of his kidneys removed and donated to Kevin Jordan, a freshman member of the Wake Forest baseball team.
Jordan suffers from ANCA vasculitis, a type of autoimmune swelling caused by autoantibodies. The immune system produces normal antibodies to fight infection in the body. However, an autoantibody is an abnormal antibody that attacks a person’s own cells. ANCA stands for Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Autoantibody and when these autoantibodies are present in the kidneys, it causes a leaking of blood and protein into the urine and eventually results in kidney failure.
Dr. Kenneth Newell, the lead surgeon on the team that removed Walter’s kidney, was pleased with the procedures.
“Both surgeries went very well,” said Dr. Newell. “We are pleased with how each patient is progressing. We expect each will recover fully.”
Wake Forest actually took to time to find out if the donation would have been considered an NCAA violation – a gift from a Wake Forest employee. Todd Hairston, associate athletic director in charge of compliance did some research. But it looks like the NCAA is willing to bend the rules on this one Deadspin reports:
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