Val Hale comes from pioneer stock sent by Brigham Young to southern Utah to carve out a life on desert red rocks and muddy Virgin River water. Walking by faith is in his DNA.
This past weekend, Hale hit balls on the driving range at Fox Hollow Golf Course in American Fork while waiting for his son Brandon to arrive. Together they would play in a men’s association shambles golf tournament.
That may not seem like a big deal to many, just fun.
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But for Hale, it was a miracle.
For years, he’d been living life with Stage 4 kidney disease.
It would be the first time this year Hale had played golf because he underwent a kidney transplant in January. The donor was his son Brandon, age 41.
It’s been 13 years since Hale, former athletic director at BYU, knew he had kidney problems, and it played heavily on his decision to retire early from his job as Utah’s state economic development director in the previous Gov. Gary Herbert administration.
It was in 2021 that he and his wife decided they’d knock off one thing on their bucket list and serve an 18-month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They accepted a public affairs assignment in Los Angeles, where part of their job was hosting diplomats from around the world. They left eight days after retirement.
“One of the reasons I retired early and my wife and I went on a mission is that I knew the church may not let me go if I got much worse. I was at Stage 4 at that point, and they did hesitate a little bit. But, you know, they let me go. It was during COVID, so that made it even a little tricky but I got permission to serve.”
When Hale met the threshold for a transplant, it was either that or undergo dialysis several times a week. He chose the transplant route and it triggered rigorous physical and psychological testing for prospective donors from his family.
Hale and his son Brandon had known since late summer they’d do the transplant. Brandon wanted it scheduled in January so he’d have time to recover and golf in spring when warmer weather arrived.
While most of Hale’s siblings and all his children were screened to see if they qualified as a kidney donor, Brandon found himself at the top of the list, a near 100% match.
“All of them were willing to donate,” said Hale. “That is meaningful to me.”
While Hale had not experienced serious sickness with outward symptoms of the chronic kidney disease, he knew the time would come he would need a transplant. Doctors told him to do it sooner rather than later because his body would accept it with fewer complications or danger to other body systems the younger he was.
Before his transplant surgery, Hale completed and published a book “Out of the Blue,” an insider’s look at the rise of BYU athletics.
For more than two months following the surgery he was restricted to solitary confinement at home because his immune system was brought down to zero to avoid rejection of the new kidney. His wife Nancy joined him 24 hours a day, seven days a week in this protective isolation. After a certain time, they were able to go on long walks outside. “She is a saint for what she has done for me,” said Hale.
Once he reached the threshold of having to undergo the transplant, he left it to his son to decide the timing.
Brandon was an all-region defensive back at Orem High on the same Tigers team as former BYU tight end Jonny Harline. When he played with Harline, he was 5-foot-8, 130 pounds. “He then grew inches the next year,” said his father.
Brandon, a University of Chicago Law School graduate, is currently vice president and general counsel for Clyde Companies.
“I feel 100%,” said Brandon.
“It was about a six-week recovery for me to heal, get cleared, return to golf and resume normal activities,” he said.
“I’d say the first three weeks I felt better every day than the last few weeks. It seemed the last few weeks were a little slower, and I felt a little up and down. But once I was cleared with no restrictions I knew I was fully recovered because I didn’t think about it any more when I’d stand up. I wouldn’t grab it (his abdomen).”
Brandon said early after his donation, it felt like he had a void there and he had to protect it because there was a void in his guts with the kidney gone. “The weirdest part of recovering was when I moved those first few weeks, my insides were moving around because of the void. But now I don’t even notice it.”
Was it a tough decision to make, and was he scared to donate one of his organs?
“It wasn’t for me,” said Brandon.
“As soon as my dad told our family this was going to need to happen, before I did any tests or anything, I knew pretty quickly that I would be a match, and it was something I wanted to do. I chose not to do a lot of research. I didn’t want to read any horror stories online or anything like that. I just discussed it with the doctors, felt good about it, and they put me under and the next thing I knew I woke up and it was done. It wasn’t scary at all.”
Val and his son could have done the surgery in the fall, but Brandon was coaching his son’s football team, so they put it off until January and the new year. The anticipation because of that drew things out a bit, but the father and son duo managed.
“I’d like to put a plug in for donating organs for transplant. It can change lives, save lives, and it can bring a miracle to others. It’s a blessing, and I’d encourage anyone who’s even considering it to do it.”
— former BYU athletic director Val Hale
“I’d like to put a plug in for donating organs for transplant,” said Val. “It can change lives, save lives, and it can bring a miracle to others,” he said. “It’s a blessing, and I’d encourage anyone who’s even considering it to do it.”
As a recipient of four cornea transplants in my life, I second Hale’s plea. It is life-changing. I’d be legally blind if not for these transplants.
Deen Vetterli, founder and CEO of the National Kidney Foundation of Utah and Idaho and director of the Utah Kidney Foundation, calls donors like Brandon “Hero Samaritans” because of their unselfish sacrifice for others.
Her organization recently put up billboards in Utah praising famous donors like Elsie Mahe, the daughter of former BYU and Philadelphia Eagle running back Reno Mahe, who died in a tragic home accident involving curtain cords, and former Utah Jazz center Greg Ostertag, who donated a kidney to his sister Amy.
“Elsie’s organ donations saved the life of seven people,” said Vetterli.
For Val and Brandon Hale, the donation is priceless. It’s much more than getting tee times. It’s playing beyond the 18th hole.
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