BY JANICE GIBBS | TELEGRAM STAFF
jgibbs@tdtnews.com | Posted 2 hours ago
Some events defy explanation.
The odds of Caleb Tate’s kidney being a match for Johnny Ray Watson, his godfather and close family friend, were almost nil. When Tate was 20 and a student at Texas A&M University, he learned that Watson was going on dialysis, Tate told his parents, Robert and Darlene Tate of Seguin, he wanted to give Watson a kidney.
Darlene Tate felt her son’s gesture was heartfelt, but probably not feasible since Caleb was preparing to join the Navy upon graduation.nOn Monday, Oct. 14, Caleb was fatally injured in College Station when he was thrown from his motorcycle after a car turned in front him.
A few days later, Watson became the 500th transplant patient in the Scott & White kidney/pancreas transplant program when he received Caleb’s kidney.
Physicians associated with the Scott & White kidney transplant program and the Tate and Watson families talked about the experience on Wednesday.
“This transplant was a team event,” said Dr. Debra Doherty, kidney/pancreas transplantation surgeon.
Watson’s evaluation to be placed on the transplant waiting list was a work in progress when Scott & White received word that a directed donation of a kidney was available for their patient, Doherty said. Watson arrived in Temple so the evaluation could be completed and he could be approved for the transplant list. Three days later, Caleb’s organs were removed and the Tate family traveled to Temple to be with their friend.
“As transplant surgeons we don’t often get to meet our amazing donor families,” she said.
The surgery began late Thursday night and was competed early Friday morning. Caleb’s kidney began working immediately and Watson went home five days later with a fully functioning organ, Doherty said.
“Talking about my Caleb is like talking about my own son,” Watson said.
Watson met Darlene Tate when she was about 15 years old at a Methodist Church revival in Midland. They became close friends and remained so after her marriage to Robert and the births of their children.bCaleb had great future ahead of him, Watson said.
Before he became ill, Watson traveled a lot with his music ministry, but he believed those days were over. Watson said he had received a second chance when he was younger.
“God used the sweetest kid I know to give me a third chance,” he said. “I hope I can live up to their expectations of me as a man. I want to give back as much as I can and tell the world about transplantation and how it can save lives.”
Watson said he occasionally pats his side and says “Hi Caleb.”
“I loved Caleb and I guess one day I’ll see him in heaven and I’ll say, ‘Thanks,’” he said.
Johnny Ray is a great singer, but he’s also a great basketball player, Robert Tate said.
A favorite photo, Tate said, is of Watson holding Caleb up to the net so he could dunk the ball.
“He played with my son, he played with my daughter,” he said. “We’re friends with Johnny Ray and his wife, Brenda. We’re like family.”
As a parent, Tate said, he wants to bring awareness to organ donations.
From the time a sheriff’s deputy arrived at the Tates’ front door to tell them their son had been injured, to making a decision about donating his organs, was like being in a blender, Tate said. He didn’t want to think about organ donation. “I wanted to take my son and go home,” he said. “There’s an inconvenience to it, it’s a 3- or 4-day process.”
With a little time, Tate realized the inconvenience was worth it when it meant providing to others the ability to see, to breathe and to live.
“You eventually get an incredible blessing that you didn’t even know you would get,” he said. “It’s knowing now my son lives in all these people and that somehow makes him alive to me.”
Tate said he hopes someday to place his hand on the chest of an organ recipient and feel the beat of Caleb’s heart. Since Darlene Tate had the conversation with her son about organ donation, making the choice after his death was easier, she said.
“This feels like this was his plan; we don’t understand it and we’re thankful that it included you,” she told Watson.
The Scott & White kidney/pancreas transplant program was started in 1997 by Dr. Gregory Jaffers and Dr. Mohanram Narayanan, who saw a need for this service in Central Texas, said Dr. Jacqueline Lappin, division director of the Scott & White kidney/pancreas transplant program and transplant surgeon....
“There is a tremendous organ shortage in this country and it could be relieved in part by having people understand that kidney donations save lives,” Moritz said.
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