HUNTINGTON — In Kim Berlt’s favorite movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” angel Clarence earns his wings by helping frustrated businessman George Bailey.

 

For the Huntington cab driver, it’s more than just a movie, though, it’s a glimpse into his own life — Berlt said he earned his wings on an operating table.

 

Four years ago, the now 55-year-old Huntington native donated a kidney anonymously. Next week, he will leave for Madison, Wis., to participate in the biennial U.S. Transplant Games.

 

“People ask me why I did it and I say, ‘Why not?’” said Berlt, an Air Force veteran. “I wanted to do something important with my life, leave a legacy.

 

“I’ve never been much good at anything or for anything. This gives my people a reason to be proud of me.”

 

Berlt’s journey began in 2000 when his aunt, suffering from scleroderma, needed a kidney transplant. He offered to help, only to discover they weren’t a suitable match. It got the wheels turning in the head of the man who has donated 19 gallons of blood since 1987.

 

“I guess it got me thinking about going ahead and donating, even if it was an anonymous gift,” Berlt said. “I contacted two transplant centers, but never heard back from them. I don’t know — maybe they thought I was crazy.”

 

A few short years later, Berlt read of an NBA athlete who had undergone a transplant procedure. A phone number provided for interested organ donors led to another dead end. In the summer of 2005, everything changed.

 

“I connected with the Center for Organ Recovery and Education in Pittsburgh and they helped me get started. I did all the blood typing and the psychological interviews and figured that was the last time I’d ever hear from them. I’ve been on the bone marrow registry for years and never heard anything. I just figured that was it,” Berlt said. “Two months later they called and said they thought they had a possible match.”
It turned out to be a false alarm, one of several along Berlt’s journey.

 

“There was never any question in my mind it was what I wanted to do,” said Berlt, a body builder and boxer in his younger days. He had quit drinking in 1998, never touched cigarettes or drugs and the most serious surgery he’d required was the removal of his tonsils.

 

Berlt completed additional blood testing at St. Mary’s Medical Center and in April 2006, the moment of truth presented itself.

 

“At the end of April, they called me and said May 3 was the day,” Berlt said.

 

In the meantime, Berlt’s mother, who was opposed to the procedure, became gravely ill and was given six months to live. The kidney transplant would be postponed one more time. Berlt’s mother died on May 17, 2006 — just two weeks before Berlt made the trek to Pittsburgh on May 31.

 

“My dad went with me, and I couldn’t sleep the night before, I was so excited. I was like a kid on Christmas,” he said.

 

Berlt described the process as minimal and easy. The procedure, done laparoscopically, required 16 staples and a three-day hospital stay. But, what it afforded Berlt was the opportunity he missed with his aunt — the chance to give a priceless gift.
“She and her family are wonderful people. They’re very grateful,” said Berlt, of the woman, Barbara of Johnstown, Pa., who received his kidney. Every year, Berlt travels to Pennsylvania to visit with his recipient’s family.

 

Berlt said he has considered donating a portion of his liver — “I’d do it in a heartbeat” — and will be volunteering at the Transplant Games, in addition to offering his support to donor organ recipients at a Huntington support group.

 

 

“When you help people, you’re helped in return,” he said.

 

Like angel Clarence Oddbody in “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

 

“I got my wings on the operating table when I donated my kidney,” he said. “I was picking up trash in my neighborhood a while back and somebody asked my name and I told them, ‘Joe Oddbody.’ I’m just an ordinary Joe out doing God’s work.”

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Sholten Singer/The Herald-Dispatch

Kim Berlt poses for a photo next to his organ donor license plate on Monday outside of his home in West Huntington. Berlt anonymously donated a kidney in 2006 and he will participate in this year’s U.S. Transplant Games.

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