One of Jerry Bernal’s favorite places to be is in the bleachers, watching his son, Caleb, play baseball.
This proud father wasn’t always sure he’d be able to watch these games though. Less than two years ago he was in dire need of a kidney transplant.
“I went to the doctor, he goes, ‘Well, you’re on stage 5 kidney failure.’ And I looked at him like, ‘What are you talking about? What do you mean stage 5?’ So he explained to me, he said, ‘You’re in bad shape.’”
‘My blood was like acid’
Bernal went back to work, hoping to avoid dialysis for as long as possible while waiting for a kidney transplant. Then one day, his body had had enough.
“I was getting ready for work one morning and my 15-year-old comes in the bathroom. He says, ‘Dad, what’s wrong?’ I was puking. Couldn’t even move really,” Bernal said. “Go to the emergency room, they run labs. They said my blood was like acid. They had to hurry up and get me to Bismarck. So they flew me to Bismarck to start dialysis.”
After that, Bernal drove from his home in Williston, North Dakota, to Sanford Health in Bismarck three times a week to receive dialysis treatment. A seven-hour round trip. It took a toll on him both physically and mentally.
“At one time I was in the basement feeling sorry for myself, like when I was on dialysis. And I wanted to give up because I was just miserable, you know? Until my son came down there and said, ‘Dad, you got to fight. … I don’t want you to give up and then I don’t have a dad. I need you in my life.’”
It was enough to keep him moving forward.
The blizzard
Then right before Christmas 2022, he got the call. A kidney matched. He headed back to Bismarck in a winter snowstorm.
“I couldn’t see nothing. I couldn’t even see the lines,” Bernal said. “I guess God was on my side and just made a path.”
His kidney still needed to get to Bismarck from Minneapolis though. Organ transplant driver Lucas Baker got stuck in a snowdrift and was only able to dig out thanks to the help of Stutsman County deputy Mercedez Holzworth. Baker kept moving forward, and he made it to Bismarck before the kidney’s viability expired. Bernal had a successful transplant.
“Without them this wouldn’t have been possible,” Bernal said.
Bernal recently had a call with Baker and Holzworth. It was a reunion of sorts, and a special call for all three people.
“Out of maybe thousands of organs that we’ve helped transplant, I’ve only ever met Jerry,” said Baker during the call. “So it’s meaningful to hear it and to see you. I mean, you look great.”
“Getting this experience and just knowing that Jerry’s doing great, and being able to help, it was just an honor for me to do it,” Holzworth said.
For Bernal, the interaction was emotional.
“It was about to break me down,” he said. “They mean a lot. They’re like family to me now. You know, there’s not a day I don’t think about those two.”
Team spirit
Baker and Holzworth weren’t the only ones looking out for Bernal either. After his recovery, his son’s baseball team visited him at home.
“The boys came over and they knocked on the door. … Each one gave me a hug. They gave me an envelope. I open it up. It’s a check for like $3,000. ‘It’s for you to help you with your medical expenses or whatever you need.’ I felt very emotional because these boys mean a lot to me,” Bernal said. “That was the biggest support system I had with my baseball family.”
Now, nearly two years later, Jerry Bernal is still out there supporting his favorite baseball team. He’s just a fan in the bleachers. A dad rooting for his son. But he’s there. Still moving forward thanks to all of the people who helped him along the way.
Learn more
- Driver delivers kidney despite being stuck in ND blizzard
- After three years on transplant list, woman receives kidney
- Hunter, flight crew share emotional reunion
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Posted In Bismarck, Dialysis, Rural Health, Transplant
