![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/09\/0b8a5636.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cThey do scans of both to determine which one is best for donation, and a few days later a nurse called me and said, \u2018They\u2019re going to take your right kidney.\u2019 It was like, Wow, this is really happening.\u201d<\/p>\nFor Dave Knott \u201969, living with kidney disease had become all too real.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re less and less able to do all kinds of things. I couldn\u2019t run anymore, couldn\u2019t play with my grandkids\u2014I felt weak and tired all the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d been on dialysis for five months, which kept me alive, but it was awful. I was becoming a shadow of my former self.\u201d<\/p>\n
So when Knott learned from a friend that his former student would be giving him a kidney and wanted to meet, Knott invited him to his home.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was going to change my life in so many ways,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
During a\u00a0Knott family dinner in Indianapolis a week before the transplant Murtaugh realized his own life was about to change in many ways, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy first introduction to Wabash College was through Dave,\u201d Murtaugh says. \u201cI saw how dedicated he was to his profession, how bright and passionate he was about teaching and coaching.<\/p>\n \u201cAt that age, those things make an impression. I admired him.\u201d<\/p>\n Years later, as Murtaugh was working in the mortgage loan business and serving as a Tippecanoe County commissioner, the two would occasionally see one another at the local YMCA.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was there often, working out,\u201d Murtaugh says. \u201cI remember once we were walking out together and I mentioned how much I appreciated him as a teacher, how much I had learned from him.\u201d<\/p>\n Murtaugh had no idea that Knott suffered from a genetically inherited kidney disease called glomerulosclerosis, and that his kidneys were beginning to fail. Doctors had discovered symptoms of the disease after examining him following an injury at a track meet. His kidneys were losing their ability to filter his blood, and he learned then that someday he\u2019d need a transplant.<\/p>\n In 2014 his wife, Barbara, donated a kidney to him, but it started to fail after four years.<\/p>\n Murtaugh read about Knott\u2019s need for a second kidney after seeing a Facebook post by Knott\u2019s daughter, Sarah.<\/p>\n \u201cIt had a link to IU Health\u2019s Living Donor Program and a very simple questionnaire,\u201d Murtaugh says. \u201cI thought about that for a couple of days, then on a Sunday, I told myself, I\u2019m going to do this. I filled out the form and IU Health called me the next day.\u201d<\/p>\n He spent 45 minutes on the phone with a coordinator answering medical questions.<\/p>\n \u201cShe said that everything sounded fine and asked if I\u2019d be willing to start the medical testing.\u201d<\/p>\n That process began in late October, and Murtaugh wasn\u2019t cleared for surgery until February as various tests were scheduled and completed. The final hurdle was a full day of tests and meetings at IU Health, including sessions with the surgeon, patient advocate, nephrologist, a social worker, and a psychiatrist.<\/p>\n Once cleared, Murtaugh set up the meeting with Knott through their mutual friend.<\/p>\n \u201cThat came from out of the blue,\u201d Knott says. \u201cI had no idea any of this had been happening. I had even called IU to see if anybody was in the pipeline, and they\u2019d said, \u2018We can\u2019t tell you.\u2019 And they can\u2019t. Because you get your\u00a0hopes up, and then things don\u2019t work out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI remember thinking, This is going to be awkward,\u201d Murtaugh says of his walk to the Knott\u2019s front door.<\/p>\n \u201cI hardly had time to prepare,\u201d Knott recalls. \u201cHe saved my life. How do you thank someone for something like this? I\u2019m just not very good at expressing that.\u201d<\/p>\n If there was any doubt about that gratitude, the entire Knott family erased it at a dinner a week before the surgery.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was my first time meeting the kids and grandkids\u2014this amazing family,\u201d Murtaugh says. \u201cEach of the kids brought me a gift that reminded them of their dad.\u201d<\/p>\n Knott laughs.<\/p>\n \u201cI give my kids practical gifts at Christmas, so that\u2019s what they did for Tom.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a rubber mallet, a shovel, duct tape, and a handful of those electrical socket adapters with his name on it.\u201d Murtaugh smiles. \u201cThe grandkids drew pictures for me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was their way of making Tom part of the family,\u201d says Knott.<\/p>\n Knott\u2019s daughter, Betsy, told Murtaugh later, \u201cYou didn\u2019t save one life; you saved two. You have most likely saved my mom\u2019s life as well.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Surgery was a rainy<\/strong> morning on March 28. Knott and Murtaugh drove to the hospital in Indianapolis together.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had to be there at 5:30, so we left about 4 a.m.,\u201d Murtaugh says. \u201cI was a little nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt like Christmas Day!\u201d Knott laughs. \u201cI will never get over that\u2014he was giving me a second chance; I was going to return to normal again.\u201d<\/p>\n The two were prepped for surgery in rooms facing each other.<\/p>\n \u201cHis kids were checking on me, wishing me well, going back and forth between his room and mine,\u201d Murtaugh recalls. \u201cThey sat together with my sister, cousins, and some friends during the surgery. They have all these stories about what transpired during the course of the day; they became friends, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Murtaugh\u2019s surgery finished at 1 p.m., with Knott\u2019s wrapping up about 3.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing I remember the surgeon telling me was, \u2018You got a large healthy kidney.\u2019 Then he said, \u201cWelcome back\u2014you\u2019re one of us again.\u201d<\/p>\n relaxing in the College\u2019s Forest Hall three and a half months after the transplant, Murtaugh says he is fully recovered.<\/p>\n \u201cI was off work for three weeks, and now I feel great,\u201d says Murtaugh. \u201cThey will monitor my kidney function for about a year just to make sure, but there\u2019s absolutely no reason to believe I won\u2019t live a normal healthy life.\u201d<\/p>\n Knott says the pain from his own surgery is nearly gone, he\u2019s feeling great, and the transplant seems to be working very well. He praises the work of his doctors and the team at IU Health.<\/p>\n Murtaugh is more confident than ever about his choice.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very personal decision, so it\u2019s one each person should put some thought into. It seems to have turned out the best that it possibly could have.\u201d<\/p>\n The bond the men share through their Wabash education played a part.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we both would say that Wabash made us the men that we are,\u201d says Murtaugh. \u201cWithout the background I had at Wabash, I don\u2019t think I would have had the personal courage or fortitude to even run for elected office, not to mention so much else I\u2019ve done in my life. I think a lot of this decision had roots in what I learned here at Wabash.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe College\u2019s mission statement talks about living humanely,\u201d Knott says. \u201cThat\u2019s what Tom is doing. He\u2019s living humanely. Think about others more than just yourself\u2014 that\u2019s part of the fabric of the place, is it not?<\/p>\n \u201cI asked my surgeon, \u2018How do I thank someone who does something like this?\u2019 But he told me that for people like Tom Murtaugh, a \u2018thank you\u2019 is usually enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Murtaugh says he\u2019s received much more.<\/p>\n \u201cThe community support has been humbling.\u201d<\/p>\n He still talks with Knott\u2019s wife and family. He has those gifts and drawings from the family too.<\/p>\n But for Murtaugh, who knew Knott first as an inspiring teacher, now as a grateful friend, the greatest gift is the man himself.<\/p>\n \u201cTruly, it\u2019s great seeing him back to his normal self. It warms my heart that Dave is doing so well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cHe saved my life. How do you thank someone for something like this?\u201d The reality that he would be donating a kidney to his former high-school teacher didn\u2019t hit Tom Murtaugh \u201988 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":4879,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,8,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-class-notes","category-features","category-featured-videos"],"w_featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/09\/0b8a5701-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4876"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4882,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4876\/revisions\/4882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u201cHard but fair\u201d<\/strong> is how Murtaugh remembers Knott from when he was his geometry and economics teacher and a football coach at Lafayette\u2019s Jefferson High School.<\/p>\n