For Once, a Wonderful Sports Story

[rmackman]

We always hear about the bad things athletes do. I read this in today's Sun-Sentinel, and decided this is one of those stories that needs to get out because it's something good. I enjoyed this article, and I think you will too. After reading this I have a higher respect for Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning.

HYDE: For transplant patients, a personal assist from Zo

Published December 29, 2005

They hoped for a wave, a nod, maybe just a glance. They wrote the section where they'd be sitting in Cleveland's arena. They also decided if Alonzo Mourning looked near them that game, even by accident, they'd tell their son it was for him and he then might approach kidney surgery the following day in better spirits.

"My husband and I are nobody, just two preschool teachers from Ohio, so this is just two parents' hope for their son, basically," Christine O'Toole said.

Did you ever consider how much of this hope Mourning carries on the basketball court each night?

How many people see a bit of themselves in the Heat center's play?

Did you know hospitals in Washington, Detroit and Newark, N.J., asked Mourning to speak to kidney patients there -- and he told his story to hundreds of people? Or his picture sits in the New York hospital where his kidney transplant was performed two years ago so doctors can show it to patients worried about their chances and say, "Well, that man was in a similar situation and he's now back playing pro basketball, so ... "

The National Kidney Foundation has used Mourning in two campaigns to increase disease awareness. He hit the big wallets in NBA locker rooms, and matched their funds, to raise $10 million for kidney research. He plans to raise $2 million more in a project called Zo's Fund For Life.

He also just had an annual Christmas party for 500 children to which no media were invited. Why? It would take time away from the children, he says.

Doesn't all that make his 9.6 points and 7.4 rebounds averages seem meaningless? Well?

And yet those numbers are profound to patients like 9-year-old Alec O'Toole, who says if Mourning's dream wasn't denied by kidney problems, his won't be either.

"He plans to play in the NBA like Zo," his mother, Christine, said.

Alec was born with one normal and one undersized kidney. Two years ago an infection attacked his normal kidney. This was about the time Mourning had a kidney transplant for the degenerative disease focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.

The O'Tooles followed Mourning's recovery and comeback to show Alec wasn't alone as he went through one surgery in May 2004 to another that September. A third was scheduled on the December day after Mourning's game in Cleveland, where the family hoped for a wave, a nod, a glance, something. Instead, they got a phone call.

"Zo will have tickets waiting for you," said Shari Rochester, Mourning's assistant.

The O'Tooles sat behind the bench of the New Jersey Nets, Mourning's team at the time. He met them before the game. He took Alec to the locker room. Introduced him to players. Got him autographs. Showed him his scar. Gave him his game shoes.

"We were dumbfounded," O'Toole said. "Then the next day, Alec's surgery went seven hours and we're sitting in the hospital, and this receptionist comes up to us and says, `I can't by law give out information on the phone, but there's an Alonzo Mourning calling and ... "

He wanted an update. Either he or Rochester called most every day for weeks. Once, before Mourning played in Toronto, the O'Tooles told Rochester their son wasn't doing well and wouldn't get out of bed. The phone rang again 10 minutes later.

"Hi, this is Zo. Let me talk with Alec."

"There are things Alonzo said to my son that night that are so private -- things about his face, about God, about being strong," Christine O'Toole said. "It was amazing. He said, `I'm going to check back on you to make sure you're moving around and I don't want to hear you're feeling sorry for yourself. They aren't going to know how strong you are unless you show them.'"

The mom's voice quakes over the phone.

"It's amazing as a parent to watch him give my son what I can't," she said.

That's the best sports can be, isn't it? That sense of sharing the warmth that comes with fame? That ability of a caring athlete to some relative stranger, "You're special to me like people say I'm special to them?"

Mourning shrugs his shoulders. "I feel that's why God gave me this disease -- to help others," he says.

Rochester has a list of people with kidney diseases that Mourning has talked with personally. Some teenagers in New Jersey. A man in Washington. A high school senior in Clearwater, David Warner, who has had both kidneys taken out, needs dialysis four times a day, heard Mourning talk at the Detroit hospital and picked up the phone one afternoon to hear, basso profundo, "Hi, this is Zo."

They talked for 30 minutes. About kidneys. About treatment. About life.

"It was cool," Warner says. He laughs. "It was real cool. And now when I watch him play, knowing what he's been through, it's incredible what he's doing."

See him like this, through their eyes. See Mourning flex his muscles after a blocked shot. See him bellow to the rafters after a slam dunk. And don't see the "cartoon figure," in the way Shaquille O'Neal once mocked him. See something more, something bigger.

"I see strength," Bethany Johasky says.

She is 23, a college senior, a Heat season ticket-holder with her family and four months after a kidney transplant is working in her father's Fort Lauderdale office. Her father and kidney donor, Tom, stands beside her. Like any family that has rallied through this, they are their own story, the father and daughter encouraging the other's recovery, the rest of the family rallying to their side.

Still, when Mourning was diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in 2000, Bethany took notice. It was the same disease she was hit with at 15. In July, when she needed a new kidney and was retaining 10 liters of fluid overnight, Tom wrote someone, who wrote someone, who wrote someone, who got word to Mourning.

One day, as they drove to lunch, her phone rang.

"She lit up like a Christmas tree," Tom said.

For 20 minutes, Bethany Johasky talked with Mourning about treatment and nutrition, outlook and recovery. Her voice drops down several octaves in fun imitation upon repeating Mourning's line: "I'm going to be frank with you. You're going to feel like s--- for three weeks after the transplant."

"It was just nice and reassuring to hear from someone like him that at the end I'll be fine, I'll be 23, I'll still have my dreams," she said. "I've always been a huge fan of his ever since I read he got diagnosed. Now, you see how he does everything he used to do before [the disease]. That's an inspiration to be just like him -- just conquer everything."

This is the kind of bond that sports can get. Now they pass it on. Bethany takes gifts for kids stuck in hospitals each Christmas and, one day, hopes to earn enough money to help children who can't pay medical bills. Her father plans to enlist in one of Mourning's causes, somehow to help the 85,000 people awaiting transplants.

Meanwhile, Alec O'Toole met Mourning again this month before a Heat game in Cleveland. He also was Mourning's Miami guest this summer at the charity event, Zo's Summer Groove. Alec and his brother came with the $1,500 earned through a garage sale to contribute toward Zo's Fund For Life.

"When Alec saw the amount of money people were spending, tens of thousands of dollars, he was in a panic about his little contribution," Christine O'Toole said. "But Alonzo made Alec feel like he was giving the keys to the city.

"I can't get over it. Who are we? And our son's situation is nothing compared to what some children go through. But for us it's a lot. And Alonzo makes him feel like he's the most important person in the world."

Dave Hyde can be reached at dhyde@sun-sentinel.com.

[CC97]

Why doesn't he just donate the $8 million he stole from Toronto

[yh]

Why doesn't he just donate the $8 million he stole from Toronto

Oh please.

$8M (CDN) wouldn't even by a cup of coffee and a pack of Mentos© here in the States.

[amare32]

Zo is a stud. And the source of the Raptors' problems is their front office. No crying.

[WSU151]

Zo is a stud. And the source of the Raptors' problems is their front office. No crying.

Exactly. And Toronto actually saved money in the long run by buying Zo out than trying to keep him on the roster at his previous salary.

[Michigan Dave]

I enjoyed the Pistons owning Zo in the playoffs. I despise Zo.

[rmackman]

How can u hate Zo? After he does stuff like this? He's one of Miami's biggest charity donators.

[Michigan Dave]

How can u hate Zo? After he does stuff like this? He's one of Miami's biggest charity donators.

Because he acts like a jackass on the court. I wish Ben Wallace would've gone over and flexed his muscles at Zo after game 7. The Heat are right behind the Pacers and Nets as easy teams to hate as a Piston fan. You watching the game tonight? 53-52 good guys at the half. It's a good one.

[NJTank]

What Zo did to the Raptors was wrong, sure their front office is not good, and they should have played hardball, but to refuse to play somewhere and then get $8 million and get what you want is not good, ZO is great and charitable but I cant blame andone in Canada holding a resentment.

[Michigan Dave]

McDyess posterized Zo tonight, and the good guys moved to 24-3. Wow. I love the Pistons.

[NJTank]

Wow I cant belive how good the Pistons have been without Brown.

[slapshot]

I don't like Zo the player, mostly because of my disdain for Georgetown products.

I admire Zo the human being, with what seems to be his charitable work, donations, and help in promoting organ transplants.

[Michigan Dave]

Wow I cant belive how good the Pistons have been without Brown.

I can. I firmly believe LB held us back. He was detrimental to Chauncey's development, and towards the end of the season was more distracting than anything. With Saunders, the players play the same tough defense, but aren't afraid they'll get yanked for taking shots. The Pistons are shooting over 40% from beyond the arc this year, and playing exciting basketball both defensively AND offensively. I'm glad Larry and his soap opera are gone. He lost me in 2003-04 when he was waxing poetically about Eric Snow when he had Mr. Big Shot at the 1. Grass is always greener for LB.

[NJTank]

Well hes doing a bang up job wioth the Knicks.

[rmackman]

I expected the Heat to lose tonight. I didn't like the retooling of the roster in the offseason, and they should have pushed harder to acquire Michael Finley. Miami will with their division, advance to the East Finals, but I still don't think they'll beat Detroit, and this is a Heat fan talking! Unfortunately this year and next are the only two seasons Miami will have a title shot b/c Shaq is breaking down. Man I hope they get their act together! I don't feel like watching them next season and realize they'll finish 0-3 as a franchise in East Conference Finals matchups (Bulls, Pistons, Pistons).

[Michigan Dave]

I expected the Heat to lose tonight. I didn't like the retooling of the roster in the offseason, and they should have pushed harder to acquire Michael Finley. Miami will with their division, advance to the East Finals, but I still don't think they'll beat Detroit, and this is a Heat fan talking! Unfortunately this year and next are the only two seasons Miami will have a title shot b/c Shaq is breaking down. Man I hope they get their act together! I don't feel like watching them next season and realize they'll finish 0-3 as a franchise in East Conference Finals matchups (Bulls, Pistons, Pistons).

I have no idea what they were doing in the offseason. Dumb moves.

[HowBoutThemFins]

Like him or hate him Zo's a good guy and a great player, especially after all he's been through. Who wouldn't want him on their team? He brings it every night. His antics might be a little over the top sometimes but after all the guy's been through I'm not going to look down on what he does. He's living life and enjoying the game again. Definitely one of the most beloved athletes in Miami history along with Marino.