Basketball Coach With Donated Kidney Brings Fitness Message To African American

Basketball Coach With Donated Kidney Brings Fitness Message To African American Fest
by Cynthia Flash
Special To The Seattle Medium
Originally posted 6/2/2010

To see James Olive coaching his Hazen High School varsity boys basketball team, you’d never know that this athlete, father of two, personal trainer and Navy veteran once had failing kidneys.

The 42-year-old Kent resident confidently leads his athletes to greater heights while juggling family duties with his wife and staying active in his church. Like many modern parents, his schedule is packed full. He helps drive his 8-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son to their own athletic practices. He coaches youth basketball teams in the off-season. He gives more than 100 percent and he’s looking toward his future.

It wasn’t always that way. After playing high school basketball and football, Olive learned at age 22 that he had kidney disease. His story is familiar. “My dad’s from Mississippi. My mother’s from Alabama. I have diabetes and high blood pressure on both sides. I was the ‘lucky one,’” he says sarcastically.

Kidney disease affects one in seven American adults. It’s four times more prevalent among African Americans. To help raise awareness of this – and encourage others to be tested – Olive will speak this Sat., June 5 at the Kidney Health Fest for African American Families to be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Van Asselt Elementary (formerly the African American Academy), 8311 Beacon Ave. S., in Seattle.

While attending college in Texas, Olive started feeling strange. His vision blurred. He couldn’t keep food down. It didn’t take long for a doctor to figure out what was wrong. Olive’s blood pressure soared to 250/150 and he was diagnosed with kidney failure. Home from Texas, he didn’t believe the diagnosis. He sought a second opinion.

Dr. Michael Kelly of Northwest Kidney Centers not only confirmed it, but sent him to dialysis treatment the next day. Three times a week for more than 3 years, Olive underwent dialysis treatment. In November 1994, he received a call that a kidney was available for transplant. That kidney lasted 11 years.

But on Christmas Eve 2005, Olive started feeling crummy again. Dr. Kelly determined the kidney had failed and once again put him on dialysis. At the time, Olive was assistant coach for the Lindbergh High School basketball team and was working as a loan officer. He applied for and received an offer to be head coach at Hazen High School while on dialysis. He would go from coaching the kids to dialysis treatment.

“The athletic director knew about dialysis. I told him I’m strong enough to coach. He took a chance on me,” Olive says. “I got to be around these kids and do what I love. Some kids knew; some didn’t know.”

Dialysis treatments didn’t stop him from coaching or playing basketball. In addition to coaching at Hazen and Lindbergh, he spent four years as head basketball coach at Tyee High School and served as assistant coach at Sammamish High School and JV coach at Newport High School. “I was told, if you eat right, keep fluids down, don’t come in overweight, you’ll be fine,” says Olive, who urges others to stay physically active and eat a healthy diet to prevent or counteract the effects of kidney disease.

Although Olive was able to continue to coach while on dialysis, he hoped to find another kidney. This time his wife, Judi, had a conversation with pastors Ken Hutcherson and Al Villette of Antioch Bible Church, which the Olives attend.

“They were the ones that reached out to our congregation about my sickness,” Olive said. “I wanted to keep it to myself and just move on without people knowing what I was going through. My wife felt that people should know!

“Twenty-nine people from church got tested,” Olive marvels. Five matched, and Troy Tucker ended up donating his kidney to Olive on Oct. 10, 2006.

“We’ll be more than friends,” Tucker told Olive. “We’ll be brothers.”

More than three years later, Olive’s transplanted kidney continues to work and he continues to coach. He also is a personal trainer and someday hopes to return to school to earn a teaching degree.

Olive demonstrates how someone can lead a healthy life with a potentially deadly disease. He’s a living example of how perseverance, exercise, healthy eating and a positive outlook can help one overcome adversity.

With the theme of “From Surviving to Thriving: Healthy People, Healthy Communities,” the Kidney Health Fest for African American Families will feature free health screenings and private consultations with a doctor, healthy and tasty food made by local celebrity chefs, and a discussion about healthy living emceed by Angela Russell, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News anchor. The day also includes entertainment, music, exhibits, a “Kids’ Korner,” and a chance to win prizes. Mount Zion Baptist Church and First AME Church are co-hosts of the event.

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