Jim Wenzlick, with his brother in the hospital after the transplant surgery.
In 2008, Jim Wenzlick joined Baker College, initially serving as a Maintenance Technician and now the Director of Facilities in Owosso. His personal journey intersects with Baker’s current initiative that emphasizes the life-changing potential of organ donation.
Here’s Jim Wenzlick’s story: I donated a kidney to my older brother who was diagnosed with Bartter Syndrome at a very young age. My parents held him back in school by two years which put him in my grade. I have always looked after him because this disease affected his growth, and he needed a “bigger little brother’s” help. After donor testing, I found out I was a match for him and it felt right that I would be the one to donate to him. My wife and I had decided to go out to eat for my birthday with our two young children and our four-year-old son was so proud that he told the restaurant owner “my dad is donating his kidney to my Uncle.” So, the owner treated us to dessert. Two days later, in the summer of 2009, I picked my brother up and said, “Come on, let’s go party.” We then drove to Ann Arbor for the surgery, and everything went well with the transplant. My brother immediately felt better, and the medication he normally took daily was reduced dramatically. To this day, he is doing well and enjoys gardening and taking care of cattle on our farm.
I feel it is important to be a donor because you never know whose lives you might change with the gift of life. I watched my brother struggle most of his childhood– in and out of hospitals. I figured this was a no-brainer to help him.
Baker College continues to press toward the goal of signing up the most organ and tissue donors during this year’s challenge that runs through February 29th. This is the last week for the challenge, so help push Baker to the #1 spot by joining the Michigan Organ Donor Registry and sharing this link with friends and family.