Family touched by lung transplant patient's gift pays it forward
Sometimes “paying it forward” creates a web of good works that leads right back to the giver. That’s the story of Tim Ervin, who in 2014 received a lifesaving double-lung transplant at UT Southwestern.
Mr. Ervin was a talented trumpet player before pulmonary fibrosis damaged his lungs and forced him to rely on oxygen tanks while awaiting an organ transplant. He would recover, going on to fulfill a life goal of playing at a professional sports venue. His career had been helped along by Jack W. White, the father of a high school friend and fellow bandmate who was an Associate Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Northeast Louisiana University (now University of Louisiana at Monroe).
Mr. White recruited Mr. Ervin with a college scholarship in 1976, then trained him in the rigor required of a professional musician. The band director and former National Guardsman also became a friend whom Tim Ervin would remain in touch with through the years. “There’s just some people in your life whom you connect with, and I connected with him on a really good level,” Mr. Ervin said.
During one visit, Mr. White, who played the trumpet at Mr. Ervin’s wedding, asked a favor of the younger man. “He said, ‘When I die, I want you to play taps for my memorial service,’” Mr. Ervin recalled. “I said, ‘Sure Mr. White. I hope that’s a very long time from now.’”
The years that followed brought trials for both men – a disabling lung disease for Mr. Ervin and Alzheimer’s disease for Mr. White. On Aug. 19, 2020, Jack White died of complications from Alzheimer’s.
Ashley White Kyle, one of Mr. White’s four children, sent Mr. Ervin a message to let him know. “I knew Tim would have never, ever forgotten what my father had asked,” she said.
At a graveside service three days later, Mr. Ervin, today a minister of music at First Baptist Church in Mount Pleasant, Texas, practiced his music in the pickup truck he had driven 200 miles to play a song that lasts about a minute. “It will go down for me as one of the great honors, other than playing taps for my own father,” who served in the Navy during the Korean War, he said.
“It was really touching,” Mrs. Kyle said. “What a blessing it was that Tim was able to fulfill that wish for my father.”
Her brother, Jay White – Mr. Ervin’s high school friend – suggested that he and his sisters repay the kindness. “We thought doing something in Tim’s honor to help someone else would be appropriate … Let’s give back to a place that kept Tim alive.”
Along with Jay and Ashley, siblings Allison White Greenup and Beth White settled on a contribution in Mr. Ervin’s honor to support UT Southwestern’s lung disease/disorder research.
“We are always grateful for the donations that help make our work possible,” said Dr. Lance Terada, Professor of Internal Medicine and Surgery and Chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, who oversees such research. “In this case, it was especially gratifying since the funds came from a family appreciative of the work our lung transplant team did to restore Mr. Ervin’s health, who was then able to play the trumpet at their father’s funeral.”
“Tim Ervin received the gift of a double-lung transplant in 2014, which allowed him to pursue his life’s passion, playing the trumpet,” added Dr. Michael Wait, Professor of Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery and the surgeon who performed Mr. Ervin’s transplant. “I first heard him play at the American Airlines Center when he performed the national anthem prior to a Dallas Mavericks game …
“In a poignant encore, he has continued his intrepid journey with gifted lungs, honoring a former music professor by his rendition of taps. Mr. Ervin is an inspiration to all of his transplant team, and does great honor to the donor who gave him the ultimate gift ... of life’s breath."