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Best Match Possible

Former Cummins Employee Happy To Have Donated Kidney

Leonard Erhard holds a certificate awarded to him by UPMC Hamot for his kidney donation to a fellow Cummins Engine employee who needed one in 2018. Tim Shelton worked in a different department than Erhard, but the act of kindness likely saved his life. Submitted photo

Sometimes, even if people aren’t related or connected in any way, they can still be a lot closer than they may realize.

That was the case for Cummins Engine employees Leonard Erhard and Tim Shelton in 2018 as a kidney donation from Erhard to Shelton proved that a bond formed by an act of kindness was strong enough to potentially save a life.

This connection was symbolized by a surprising biological revelation on behalf of doctors who realized that Erhard’s kidney was essentially a perfect match for Shelton and was going to be a better match from a physiological perspective than Shelton’s family’s kidneys.

Shelton’s defunct kidneys forced him from his day job at Cummins Engine to evenings of necessary dialysis. This led to the company putting up internal advertisements to find someone who would hopefully be interested in helping out and be a solid match for Shelton.

One of the few people who spoke up, Erhard, turned out to be the best match possible. Doctors said his kidney’s compatibility with Shelton was equivalent to a one out of two million chance, something the surgeon who would eventually operate said he had only ever seen one other time in his 17-year career.

Erhard successfully had his kidney donated to Shelton on Oct. 12, 2018, at UPMC Hamot in Erie, Pa. While Erhard became sick for several weeks afterward, he said that the little long-term risk to his own health made it all worthwhile.

“I don’t think I would change anything,” Erhard said. “I like helping people; that’s the way I have always been.”

Erhard, a single father of three children, has remained in touch with Shelton despite no longer working at Cummins Engine himself. He thinks more people should donate kidneys if they can help others and said that the satisfaction of helping others was worth any setbacks.

“If I can live a normal life with one kidney, why not?” Erhard had asked himself.

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