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TORRINGTON, CT – Mike Wallace’s urgent need for a new kidney may have saved Tim Sparks’ life. This tale of need and generosity 
started with an article that ran in The Sunday Republican on Sept. 13 and was later shared on RIDE-CT & RIDE-NewEngland. It evolved into a bittersweet lesson about thanks, and giving.
started with an article that ran in The Sunday Republican on Sept. 13 and was later shared on RIDE-CT & RIDE-NewEngland. It evolved into a bittersweet lesson about thanks, and giving.Wallace, 52, who owns Southworth’s Wayside Furniture, has suffered from kidney disease for a dozen years. For nearly three years, he has endured nightly peritoneal dialysis, hooked to a machine in his home from midnight to 9:15 a.m. Three months ago, his name was added to the wait list for a kidney transplant at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Sparks, 56, a Bantam native who moved to Watertown in August, read the article about Wallace, which mentioned Wallace’s love of motorcycles. It is a passion Sparks shares.
Mike Wallace, left, and Tim Sparks
“Maybe it was the motorcycle connection. For some reason, it just got to me,” said Sparks last week, as he stood in the driveway of Wallace’s home looking over a faded red 1983 Audi GT car that Wallace had just picked up for $800.
Besides collecting motorcycles, of which he has roughly 50 of mostly Japanese and German origin, Wallace also owns sporty cars. Sparks’ motorcycle collection is more modest – a British-made 1974 Triumph Trident and a Spanish-made 1973 OSSA 250.
Wallace went on the hospital’s wait list after having been hospitalized in the summer for pancreatitis and to have his gall bladder removed. His deteriorating condition prompted the article, which Sparks read a few days later.
Sparks soon decided to help a fellow motorcyclist by volunteering to pursue donating a kidney. “It took me a few days to decide. It keep eating away it me. I was just thinking of what it would be like to have to go through something like that – what Mike was having to go through,” he said.
He also conferred with his wife, Kathy Sparks. “She was a little hesitant at first,” he said. By the time he made up his mind, “I had her full support.”
After calling the Yale-New Haven Hospital Donor Hotline, Sparks went through the screening process, which included two trips to New Haven. He appeared to be a prime candidate. The hospital actually determined that he was a match for Wallace, a fact that Wallace wasn’t aware of as kidney donors normally remain anonymous.
“They called and said everything looked really good,” said Sparks. However, then came a follow-up call from Living Kidney Donor Coordinator Joyce Albert. “She called me back and said, ‘We’ve found a cyst on your kidney. We find these all the time, but the doctor does want you to have an MRI.'”
The MRI took place two weeks ago. Albert called again. “By her voice, I knew something was up – ‘The doctor wants to see you tomorrow morning at 8 o’clock,'” he said. Her tone was more serious and professional than he was accustomed to hearing.
Sparks’ sister, Kim Sparks, is an operating room nurse at Yale-New Haven Hospital and she accompanied him when he went to get the MRI results from a doctor. He learned that he has a tumor on a kidney that appears to be malignant.
“At this time, he is not a candidate for donation,” said Albert, who confirmed that “if this tumor proves to be a malignancy, this would be a life-saving event for him.” Sparks has an appointment with a surgeon on Tuesday and plans to have the tumor removed as soon as possible.
Albert explained, “It is not uncommon to find a cyst on a kidney. It’s not often they are cancerous.” She explained that Sparks should learn very quickly after surgery whether the tumor is malignant. They’ll have a very good idea the day of the surgery. It takes two weeks to have the final report,” she said.
Sparks’ act of generosity may have saved his life, though, because “by the time this cancer had grown, it might have spread,” she said. Such a cancerous tumor is normally slow-growing. “They’re not routinely found. Most of the time when it happens, it has grown and patients have symptoms,” Albert said.
Sparks described his circumstances and not being able to help Wallace as “a big letdown. I was like the perfect candidate; the perfect donor.” Dealing with a possible cancer diagnosis has been challenging, too. “It’s been up and down,” he said.
For Wallace, learning that a donor was so close has been equally unsettling. “It works both ways. I tend to go toward the side of ‘Good for him!’ that he found out,” said Wallace. “It’s a shame he couldn’t do it, but I don’t feel horrible. If he didn’t do this he could be in big trouble.” Both men agree that more good may yet come from the situation.
“I really hope that the story will get people motivated to give it a thought and see about being a donor – for Michael or anyone else. That really is the important thing,” said Sparks.
Wallace concurred, “It will get some good attention and maybe something will come out of that. You’ve got to be positive. I’m always positive. You can’t get frustrated. You allow yourself to do that you lose. I’m a very patient person.”
Albert said there are currently more than 1,200 people in Connecticut awaiting a new kidney. The normal wait time for a kidney, depending on blood type, is two to six years. The hospital seeks “people who have good health habits” as potential donors, Albert said.
Potential donors go through an extensive medical workup. People with high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, high body mass, a viral infection or who currently abuse drugs or alcohol are routinely excluded from donating. Candidates are also seen and evaluated by multiple members of the transplant team prior to being approved for kidney donation.
Sparks said the staff at Yale-New Haven Hospital makes the donor screening process go smoothly. “Everybody was unbelievable. I was very, very impressed with them,” he said.
Anyone interested in donating a kidney may call the Yale-New Haven Hospital Donor Hotline at 866-925-3897. Calls are confidential. There’s no cost to the donor.
Wallace and Sparks did not know one another prior to having been brought together by RIDE-CT.com, an independent spin-off of the RIDE-CT motorcycle column that has appeared in The Republican-American for more than 10 years. They are linked by the newspaper column as both have been profiled over the years.
After chatting for an hour about motorcycles, cars and their respective medical conditions, Wallace and Sparks parted ways vowing to get together soon socially. Should the hospital’s suspicion of a malignancy provide inaccurate, Sparks said he would confer about his current ineligible donor status. “I would consider it if everything turns out all right and I’m still a good candidate,” he said.
(A version of this story was originally published in “The Sunday Republican” on Nov. 22, 2015.)
TIM ! You are our Hero ! We wish you the very best. (what A great guy! …We are Mikes’ aunt and uncle and previous owners of “southworth’s Furniture. Bless you for your thoughtfulness…From Venice Fl.
Tim you were always a kind person growing up! Your. Heart is big. Sending healing energy for both you and your friend