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Kurt Anderson just celebrated his one-year anniversary. It didn’t mark his wedding day or the day he began working with his brother as assistant manager of the Sioux Falls, S.D., Scotts LawnService franchise. Kurt shares this anniversary with just one other person in the world – someone he’ll be connected to for the rest of his life.
On May 8, 2002, Kurt and his neighbor and friend Dave Naasz went into the hospital together for transplant surgery in which Kurt donated one of his kidneys to help Dave overcome a hereditary disease.
“I’ve known Dave for about two years,” Kurt said. “We’ve been neighbors for about six years, but we didn’t really get to know each other until about two years ago when Dave came to our church. That’s how I met him and his family.”
Dave remembered a period in time when he and his wife were looking for a new church and as fate – or faith – would have it, a suggestion from an acquaintance brought he and Kurt together. “We went to try this church and discovered that Kurt and Jill (Kurt’s wife) were our backdoor neighbors,” explained Dave, who learned of his kidney disease through a blood test for his insurance company. The friendship began there and soon after discovering mutual interests and a shared fenceline, Dave invited Kurt to accompany him on a retreat for a prison ministry program in which he was involved.
“I heard that Dave was having kidney problems, but I thought it was just a rumor at first because I’d seen him working in the back yard and he looked pretty healthy,” Kurt admitted. “But then I heard it from Dave himself.” In a speech during the prison ministry retreat, Dave told listeners about his condition, explaining that his kidneys were failing slowly but that he was trusting in God that something would happen. Hearing this, Kurt approached Dave with an offer.
“I mentioned during my talk that I was on the organ donation waiting list and afterwards Kurt came up to me and said he was willing to be tested,” Dave related. After learning that he would, indeed, need a kidney transplant but that his wife and two sisters were not viable donor matches, Dave took Kurt up on his offer.
“If I was a match, I wanted to [donate] because Dave’s a good friend of mine and he’s got three young daughters and he’s happily married,” Kurt commented. “I would have had a hard time living with myself if I didn’t.” Thankfully, Kurt’s tests came back positive, showing that his type-O, universal donor blood type, as well as other characteristics of his kidney matched those that Dave’s body required to accept the transplant.
“After I learned I was a match, I talked it over with my wife Jill and my son Cory to make sure it was okay with them,” Kurt explained. “They were supportive but a little nervous, and I was too, but we all had a strong trust that everything would go well.” In addition to Kurt’s family, Dave’s wife Brenda and their three daughters Emily, Christine and Rachel, were all “overwhelmed” by Kurt’s offer and thankful for this life-saving opportunity.
Both Kurt and Dave noted that their respective surgeries went very well, with Kurt able to walk the following day and Dave on his feet just a day after that. Kurt remained in the hospital for just three days and Dave was able to return home only four days after his surgery. Kurt credits his speedy recovery to a new laproscopic approach his surgeon was able to use, removing his kidney through a small, 3-inch incision rather than a large 14-inch opening. Dave’s surgery was more invasive and he reports that he, like all transplant patients, will have to take anti-rejection medications for the rest of his life. But both men are now fully recovered, healthy and back to work.
“Kurt took a week or two off from work to recover and then he was in the office doing computer work for a couple of weeks until he was ready to get out and work on lawns again,” mentioned Kurt’s brother Ryan Anderson, branch manager, Scotts LawnService, Sioux Falls, S.D. “He’s probably not an office-type person – he prefers being outside and doing that kind of work – but he did a great job for us. Kurt’s a really valuable asset to our company and we support him 100 percent.”
“It feels good to have helped someone, especially since it was successful,” Kurt expressed, adding that he highly recommends organ donation to anyone considering becoming an organ donor. Dave agreed and both men feel that their meeting was more than just coincidence, crediting their faith for their friendship. Though Dave will soon be “transplanted” to Lubbock, Texas, as a result of a job promotion, he and Kurt have a lifelong connection and, surely, their fence gates will always be open to each other.
The author is Assistant Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at lspiers@lawnandlandscape.com.