Ex-NFL star stumps for organ donation

Ex-NFL star stumps for organ donation

By Vahe Gregorian
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Saturday, Jan. 05 2008

When former Dallas Cowboys star Everson Walls donated a kidney to ex-teammate
Ron Springs last February, he did all he could to avoid attention.

He'd had plenty of that in a 13-year NFL career that included earning a Super
Bowl ring and leading the league in interceptions three times.

More to the point, though, the gift was a sensitive matter, what Walls calls "a
private ordeal" for Springs.

But after news seeped out of what is believed to be the first organ donation
between former professional athletes, Walls shed his irritation and embraced
the limelight for one reason.

"It's bigger than us," he said Friday.

That's why Walls is in town. He is attending the Smart Living Expo today at
America's Center and speaking on behalf of a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep.
William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis.

The bill, H.R. 3635, was introduced in the House of Representatives in
September. It seeks to establish a national organ and tissue donor registry
center, authorize grants for state organ and tissue registries and create a
database to help track long-term health effects for living donors.

Walls also spoke Friday at St. Louis Children's Hospital, which performed 67
pediatric transplants last year, and met with several families that have been
transplant recipients or donors or are in waiting.

Suddenly, Clay said, Walls' NFL achievements "pale in comparison to his
courageous and generous action off the field."

Walls' name has become so synonymous with the cause that Clay's legislation is
called the Everson Walls and Ron Springs Gift for Life Act of 2007, taken from
the title of the nonprofit foundation the teammates began to promote awareness
of kidney disease and diabetes.

"My name has taken on a whole new meaning," said Walls, 47, who played in the
NFL from 1981-93. "Who would have thought that?"

To many, his deed is particularly inspiring after a tumultuous year in sports
with scandals from steroids to gambling to various nefarious off-field
incidents.

As moving as Walls' act was, it took a poignant turn in October.

During or after elbow surgery — reports vary — Springs lapsed into a coma.
Reports portray his condition as virtually hopeless, and Springs' son, Shawn, a
cornerback with the Washington Redskins, told reporters his father is "pretty
much a vegetable."

But Walls won't accept that, which helps explain his frequent visits to
Springs' bedside.

"The words are good, but I like to touch," he said. "I pull his ear. I thump
him on the jaw. I grab him on the chin, and I pop him on the forehead."

Often, he says, Springs, 50, will squirm. His eyes might open, too, albeit
unfocused. Walls has seen him yawn. To him, those are signs of hope.

"He's in there," Walls said. "He's in there, waiting to come out."

Walls wishes the animated Springs hadn't waited so long for proper treatment.
He had struggled with diabetes for years, Walls said, but he was in denial —
perhaps until after he'd had a foot and two toes amputated.

He was on dialysis and awaiting a kidney for more than three years as two
family members who offered theirs proved to have kidney issues of their own.
That's when Springs turned to Walls.

Once Walls educated himself on the safety of giving a kidney and found his
blood type was compatible, he said, he didn't hesitate.

In the weeks to come, Springs was saying he felt better than he had in years.
It took Walls many weeks to recover fully, but by Thanksgiving he could run
eight miles at the Dallas Turkey Trot.

And he'll never lose what he gave Springs.

"The ultimate gift," Clay called it. "The gift of life."

vgregorian@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8199

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