In 38 years of working, Tex Nolan, the athletic director for the Amarillo Independent School District, had only missed one day of work. So when he felt ill with flu-like symptoms in December of 2000, he went to the doctor for a check-up. The doctor discovered he had Hepatitis B but assured Tex he would be fine. One month later, however, Tex became so ill that he was given high priority on the liver transplant waiting list.

His decline during the month before the transplant was fast and frightening. He continued to feel tired, as if he had the flu, but on Saturday, January 13, he woke up feeling much worse. Nauseated, he couldn’t even hold down birthday cake from a family celebration. He became incoherent and was rushed to the emergency room at Baptist St. Anthony’s Hospital in Amarillo, where doctors discovered that Tex’s liver had stopped functioning. His organs were beginning to shut down and he slipped into a coma. In order to save his life, he had to be transferred to Baylor Medical Center for a transplant.

Two days later, his family had to make a difficult decision. A liver was available, but it was from a young boy who died of meningitis. Doctors assured Pat, Tex’s wife, that if he contracted meningitis from the liver, he could be treated, but they feared Tex would die if they waited for another liver.

Pat realized Tex was close to death. She, her daughter Kris, and son Dodd, decided to accept the organ. Early the next day, doctors transplanted Tex’s new liver. During the surgery, Tex required multiple units of blood to sustain him. Because of those who gave,

Tex survived.

Tex woke from his coma two days later with no memory of what happened to him. But, from that time, he began a recovery that, according to Tex, “couldn’t have been smoother.”

It has been five years since Tex received a new liver and 13 units of blood. At his five-year check-up he received a great report–he doesn't have to return to Baylor for another five years. “It just wasn’t my time to go,” Tex said. “I attribute the fact that I’m still alive and working again to faith in God and the support of family and friends. But, I would have never had the opportunity if it weren’t for those of you who gave. Thanks!”