'No Doubt': Tinley Park Woman Gives Husband A Kidney To Save Him

TINLEY PARK, IL — If you ask Kevin Bartee, he was getting his wife's kidney, whether he liked it or not. The Tinley Park woman had already learned she was a match, made up her mind and started the paperwork, when she told him she'd be donating her left kidney to save his life.

"It seemed to be that we were going that way, no matter what," Kevin Bartee told Patch, laughing slightly. "That was pretty much it."

His wife LaVerne's decisive, sure-footed nature was no surprise to him.

"She kind of just takes the bull by the horns a lot of the time," he said, "and makes things happen."

Now weeks into their recoveries, LaVerne Bartee laughs on the phone with Patch, joking to her husband in the background, "Did you even want my kidney?!"

LaVerne, 51, gave Kevin, 53, her left kidney on Jan. 31, almost a year after he had been diagnosed as being in renal failure, with dialysis rendered necessary indefinitely at the time. He would ultimately need a kidney transplant to save his life, doctors told him.

The two, who have been together for more than 30 years and have four children, found themselves trying to solve a mystery in February 2022. Kevin had been ill with COVID-19 the month prior, but his symptoms didn't seem to be dissipating. LaVerne insisted he see a doctor, and that visit led to Kevin being sent to the emergency room.

Two years prior, test results had shown elevated numbers indicating kidney disease, but doctors had advised that they keep an eye on future results. On Feb. 16, 2022, it was, "no more watching," LaVerne said.

"It was like a scene from (the TV show) 'ER'," LaVerne said. He was quickly in emergent surgery, having a port put in to allow dialysis to happen. His kidneys failing, he would need dialysis to pull his blood from his body and clean it, sending it back through his veins filtered. Later, he would be put on peritoneal dialysis, with a tube placed in his abdomen, a machine then using the lining of his abdomen, to filter his blood inside his body. He would hook up to the machine every night for several hours. It would clean his blood, but it was a temporary fix, LaVerne said. His condition had deteriorated rapidly, possibly related to his bout with COVID-19, she said.

Kevin was placed on a transplant waiting list, but he didn't have to wait long. In October 2022, one of their sons underwent testing to see if he could be a match for a transplant. He was, and decided that he would donate. But LaVerne beat him to it. She had donated blood at a drive at her employer, University of Chicago Medical Center, and learned she was also a match.

"I’m gonna donate, rather than my son," she remembers saying. On hospital premises daily, she was able to move quickly through next steps, including rigorous physical exams and testing.

"It is the best physical you’ll ever have in your life," LaVerne said, laughing. "If they're going to find something, this is when they’re going to find it."

By December 2022, they were both cleared for the transplant. Doctors swapped in her left kidney for one of his ailing ones, and immediately hers started doing its job. Within two days, she was home, and Kevin followed several days later. Their friends rallied around them during the recovery.

"Our friends and family rallied and helped us tremendously," LaVerne said. "I still have food in the freezer from it all. We have some amazing people in our life."

The two love to bowl in a league together at Tinley Bowl and the Backyard in Tinley Park—it's their date night, she said. The alternating week league gives them couple time amidst their lives as parents of 4 ages 13, 16, 25, and 30. They recently stopped into the bowling alley to visit with friends, post-surgery.

"We go out every couple weeks, hoping we come home and the house is still standing," LaVerne said, laughing. "That was our first day coming out to visit, taking a chance to walk in and say 'hi' to everybody."

LaVerne, who works at Comer Children's Hospital as an events and communications manager and previously worked in the gastrointestinal department at UChicago, knew she'd experience some pain from the surgery, but her recovery has been relatively smooth. The decision to donate was an easy one, she said.

"There was no choice in my mind, no doubt that I was doing it," she said. "Full speed ahead. I knew I was going to have pain, I knew I might have trouble. But I also knew it would save two lives: my husband’s life, and whoever else is on the list, who then gets his spot."

Kevin is doing well and getting stronger each day—"because he has an organ that’s kicking (expletive)," LaVerne joked—and he's been amazed at how quickly his body has responded to its new addition.

"It was really hard to understand what it was going to be like," he said. "I just couldn’t understand how that organ was going to connect, and put me back to normal. ... It was just amazing."

The two hope to spread greater awareness of Kidney Disease. It's estimated that 37 million Americans have kidney disease, with nearly 810,000 Americans living with kidney failure, according to the American Kidney Fund. Approximately 570,000 Americans are on dialysis; 240,000 people are living with kidney transplants. The disease is reportedly growing at an alarming rate, currently affecting more than 1 in 7 — or 15 percent — of American adults, with people of color at greater risk for kidney failure. Nine out of 10 people with kidney disease do not know they have it.

"We really want to get the word out," LaVerne said. "Kidney disease is one of those diseases, where it seems to affect so many people, and you don’t know it’s coming."

As of February 2022, there were 92,000 Americans on the kidney transplant waiting list. In 2021, 25,490 — or about 1 in 5 — were able to get a kidney, the American Kidney Fund reports. There were 5,971 living donor transplants performed in 2022. Living donors can play a huge role in changing prognoses, but donating can be frightening and overwhelming, and not without its own risks. For LaVerne, the benefits have ultimately outweighed the risks.

"Because I had such a calm and peace about what I was doing, I’ve really been recovering well," she said.

Kevin is grateful for his wife's selflessness, but knows it has always been a part of who she is.

"Loving, caring, unconditional type of love," he said of her. "No matter who it is.

"I don’t think it’s just because she’s married to me ... I think it’s this type of unconditional love she gives to everyone."