Caleb's kidney: Organ donor, transplant give family friend a new life

Killeen Daily Herald | Janice Gibbs
Johnny Ray Watson, the 500th transplant patient of the Scott & White kidney/pancreas transplant program, is seen many years ago holding Caleb Tate. Less than a month ago, Tate died in a motorcycle accident and Watson received one of Tate’s kidneys.

TEMPLE â€" Some events defy explanation.

The odds of Caleb Tate’s kidney being a match for Johnny Ray Watson, his godfather and close family friend, were almost nil.

When Tate was 20 and a student at Texas A&M University, he learned that Watson was going on dialysis. Tate told his parents, Robert and Darlene Tate of Seguin, he wanted to give Watson a kidney.

Darlene Tate believed her son’s gesture was heartfelt but probably wasn’t feasible because he was preparing to join the Navy after graduating.

On Oct. 14, Caleb Tate was killed when he was thrown from his motorcycle after a car turned in front of him in College Station.

A few days later, Watson became the 500th transplant patient in the Scott & White kidney/pancreas transplant program when he received Tate’s kidney.

Physicians associated with the Scott & White kidney transplant program, and the Tate and Watson families talked about the experience Wednesday.
______________________________________________________ 
"You have the power to SAVE lives." 
To register as a donor TODAY
In California: 
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 
Outside California: 
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

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