Cory Watt

Photo courtesy of the Watt family

Some dads give their sons their names. Others give their sons their old baseball gloves. Shayne Watt gave his son Cory one of his kidneys. It doesn't seem likely that Cory, almost 4, will forget that gift.

When Cory's mother, Karen, had her first ultrasound when she was pregnant with Cory, the couple's first child, she was told that her baby's bladder looked abnormal. Most likely, a problem with the baby's urethral valves was causing urine to back up into his kidneys and not allowing them to form normally. Karen's pregnancy was closely monitored. When the baby's health deteriorated, her labor was induced six weeks before her due date.

On his third day of life, the 5-pound, 4-ounce baby was transported by airplane to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for more advanced care. His parents drove from their home in Grand Forks, N.D., 350 miles away.

"When Cory was in the airplane, the flight nurse called us with updates about his condition, which really relieved our tension," says Shayne. "Then when we arrived in Rochester at 1:00 in the morning, someone was there to meet us and take us right to our baby. The whole place is family oriented. The attention to our needs meant more to us than we can ever express."

Once at Mayo Clinic, the couple learned that their newborn was in end-stage kidney failure. Physicians performed a procedure to temporarily open Cory's bladder to the skin and allow urine to drain out easily until he was big enough to remove the valves that blocked his urethra, the tube through which urine passes to outside the body. With the blockage fixed, the family was able to go home. They were not able to breathe a sigh of relief, however. The Pediatric Nephrology team told them Cory would need a transplant because of the permanent damage to his kidneys.

The Watts returned to Mayo Clinic a year and a half later to begin the transplantation process. By that time, Cory had a new baby brother, Kyle, and a kidney donor who was almost 100 percent compatible — his father.

On Halloween Day 2001, father donated a kidney to son.

"I feel like I gave Cory the greatest gift possible," says Shayne. "I don't miss my other kidney."

Thanks in part to the gift from dad, Cory has developed into a bright, active youngster who is on track in every way. He returns to Mayo Clinic every October for a checkup.

"He knows his way around Mayo Clinic, knows where his kidney is located and that he has to get 'pictures' of it taken," says Shayne. "He knows his ABCs, counts to 25, loves to read, loves his doctors and loves to take care of his little sister." Sister Katie joined the Watt family in mid-2003.

"Cory had the best care in the world at Mayo Clinic," says Shayne. "The nursing staff is wonderful, incomparable. We had total faith in them. The doctors are absolute angels; we trusted them completely. We would entrust the care of any of our children to Mayo Clinic."