Dad gives son the gift of life with new kidney
By Michelle Knight

knight@theacorn.com

Tim Bednar has given his son, Stephen, a chance at life for the second time.

The 44-year old Moorpark High School English teacher and basketball coach gave one of his kidneys to 15-year old Stephen last month. Both were recently released from the hospital and are doing fine.

After months of being treated for anemia, Stephen was diagnosed in December with acute kidney failure after becoming very ill during an out-of-town trip he made with his father to a basketball tournament. The two illnesses share some of the same symptoms—dark circles under the eyes, extreme fatigue and nausea. Doctors had never tested Stephen’s kidney function.

Stephen was rushed to the hospital, where he was given two blood transfusions and put on dialysis. Apparently his kidneys failed because they stopped growing with the rest of his body.

Stephen was released from the hospital but needed daily home dialysis treatments to cleanse his system, which kept him from many of the activities he enjoyed, such as sleepovers with friends.

Meanwhile, doctors tested Tim and his wife, Patricia, for transplant compatibility. Tim proved the best match.

Stephen received his dad’s kidney on June 23. The five-hour surgery to remove one of Tim’s kidneys was performed at St. Vincent Hospital in Los Angeles. The organ then was rushed across town to be immediately transplanted into Stephen, who was at Children’s Hospital in Hollywood.

The surgeries went off without a hitch, although Patricia was put in a dilemma: should she be at the bedside of her husband or son? She attended Stephen’s surgery.

Father and son are both doing just fine. Thanks to minimally-invasive surgical techniques, there was no need to cut through muscle, which reduced Tim’s hospital stay to three days. He plans to be back at work to welcome summer school students on July 18. He won’t resume all of the coaching duties just yet, but he’ll be there to help.

Although Stephen’s surgery lasted less than three hours, he had a 10-day stay in the hospital. Released on July 1, he spent the first night with a friend, something he could only do occasionally when on dialysis. He’s rarely at home now, going out on the town with friends and enjoying his summer.

Tim and Patricia Bednar take great satisfaction in seeing their son enjoying life again.

“I know that he’s really appreciative that his family worked so hard to get this done for him,” said Tim.

“I’m feeling really good, not tired anymore, more energy,” Stephen said, happy he can now live a normal life and adding he even may play on the basketball team this year.