Dallas Cowboys stress importance of being a living organ donor

I'm a huge Cowboys fan, so this makes me very proud!

Cowboys To Honor The Springs-Walls Foundation
Zach Buchanan - Email
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer

August 14, 2007 6:49 PM

IRVING, Texas - Ron Springs is going to do everything he can to make sure what happened to him doesn't happen to anyone else. When Springs, the former Cowboys fullback from 1979-84, found out he had diabetes after he retired, he took the disease for granted.

But it was bad. He had eye problems, heart failure and he lost his right leg below the knee. He can barely use his hands anymore. He needed a new kidney, and soon.
That bad.

And if it wasn't for Everson Walls, it could have been much worse. After several potential kidney donors were ruled out for various reasons, Walls, Springs' former Cowboys teammate and friend for more than 25 years, threw his name in the hat. And now, both Springs and Walls have one healthy kidney and can look forward to many more years of friendship together.

Because of Walls' act of kindness and Springs' good fortune, the two will spend those years together after jointly forming the Ron Springs & Everson Walls Gift for Life Foundation, geared toward providing education, early detection and prevention of chronic kidney disease.

"What we'd like to get to is being able to go out in communities and let people understand the seriousness of diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, in America," Springs said at a press conference at Valley Ranch Tuesday to announce the formation of the foundation. "Last year (Americans) spent like $23.9 million on just health care for Type 2 diabetics. So guys, this is a serious epidemic in our country."

It's a powerful message, and Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones wants to make sure that message is heard. So Jones has decided Walls and Springs will be honorary team captains for the Cowboys' nationally-televised season opener Sept. 9 at Texas Stadium against the Giants. The two former Cowboys will meet at midfield for the coin toss donning Cowboys jerseys with their former numbers. Jones said 40,000 rally towels will also be distributed throughout the stadium to remind Cowboys fans of the importance of being a living organ donor.

Jones said the Dallas Cowboys organization will use its visibility to broadcast Springs' and Walls' message.

"To the end that we can take these Dallas Cowboys and your contribution to the Cowboys and the fact that you're a part of this thing too, to the end we can take this and maximize your message and help a lot of people, we're going to do it in every way we can," Jones said to the two former Cowboys during the press conference. "If anybody knows how to maximize the Dallas Cowboys from the standpoint of messages, I think I do."

After the press conference, the two former players had a message for the Cowboys team, which was just beginning practice in the indoor structure. Walls wheeled Springs out to the facility in his wheelchair, where the two players addressed the team.

There is no cure for diabetes, but the experience Springs and Walls shared taught them that no cure is not an excuse to give up. The two Cowboys legends understand the importance of being an organ donor, and the 69,604 people awaiting kidney transplants understand it, too.

The pair wants to dispel myths about being a living donor. Walls said he lives the same life that he led before in terms of fitness and health, and is even still able to enjoy his "Friday night margarita" with his wife.

"We want to try to make sure that everyone is aware that because you become a living organ donor, that it does not hamper you or limit your lifestyle in any way at all," Walls said. "As long as you stay healthy, as long as you do the right things that you're supposed to be doing anyway to live a long and healthy lifestyle, then becoming a living organ donor is something that's attainable by almost everyone in this room."

And that message goes far beyond kidney disease and organ donation, as lofty as those causes are. It's a message of teamwork, of one teammate being there for another when he needed it most, and that's a message that is universal to every aspect of life.

That was another reason Jones and new head coach Wade Phillips wanted the two former teammates to address the team before practice
"(Phillips) in my mind, is doing such a good job of emphasizing the teammate and the family feeling that he wants on this football team," Jones said before taking Spring and Walls to talk to the team in the pre-practice huddle. "And we're going to walk right out here and let that team see an example of a teammate, and see what a family feeling that endures over a lot of years and look at what might happen to you and that it isn't just about two-a-days. It can be longer and last many, many years.

"I've never seen an example like this, and never thought I would either."
For more information or to make a donation to the Ron Springs & Everson Walls Gift for Life Foundation you can visit the foundation's website at www.GiftforLifeFoundation.org.