When Dave Kerlin needed a new kidney, his wife, Jackie, gave him one of hers. The Kerlins both work sales for Indiana Auto & RV.

TIPTON — Dave and Jackie Kerlin “just happened to meet” in Rochester, where she worked for a bank and he was employed at a farm implement dealership.

“I think he had his eye on me,” said Jackie. “We had lunch at the old Streamliner Restaurant and he never left.”

Now, because Dave carries a part of Jackie within him, she will quite literally never leave his side.

They met in 1988 and married the following year.

Jackie is originally from Akron, graduating from the town’s high school in 1972. Dave, two year older, hails from Silver Lake and graduated in 1970.

On Feb. 3, 2017, Dave underwent a kidney transplant at the IU Health University Hospital in Indianapolis.
Jackie was there. She was the donor.

The Kerlins long knew the surgery would eventually be necessary. Dave suffered from a congenital condition known as polycystic kidney disease, where cysts slowly replace the organ’s tissue, strangling the vital function of the kidney.

The disease took his mother at age 42, killed his grandfather and necessitated his brother Dan’s kidney transplant 20 years ago.

A healthy kidney weighs about four ounces. The disease caused Dave’s kidneys to balloon to 10 pounds each. “It was like carrying around twins,” he said.

One of his kidneys was removed to make room for Jackie’s donated organ. Dave will undergo surgery in November to remove his other diseased kidney.

Jackie “didn’t have any qualms” about donating one of her vital organs to the man she fell in love with almost 30 years ago.

“I am a pretty strong person and knew what I wanted to do,” she said. “We care for and love each other and it was just the right thing to do. He took care of my children and he deserves this chance.”

“She basically saved my life,” said Dave. “It just makes us closer and closer.”

Jackie had two sons from a previous marriage and the couple adopted a daughter, now 15. The family lives in Tipton, a town just east of U.S. 31 midway between Indianapolis and Kokomo.

Dave and Jackie both work sales for Indiana Auto & RV, a publication of The Papers Incorporated. Jackie started in 2005; Dave has worked there for “about 20 years.” She is back at work and he will return soon.

Since the surgery, Dave has undergone monitoring, requiring doctor visits “two or three times a week for the first three weeks, now twice a week and next week I’ll start the once a week visits.”

“But I’m doing real good,” he said. “I’ve really improved in the last week.”

Once Jackie was found to be a matching donor, she endured six months of testing. “They did tests on my blood and kidneys, heart scans and took X-rays. They even conducted a psychological exam. They look for every reason to reject you,” she said.

People who “share their spare” are known as champions. Dave agreed with that assessment and encouraged others to consider organ donation.

“Live donors will actually save a life,” he said. “Around 15 percent of the people every year die waiting for a kidney.

“If you are on the list you are a viable recipient, but the waiting time can be three to five years. A live donor can cut that down to six months.

“People don’t realize how many are waiting for a kidney donor.”