jwt hospital

Yesterday, our own Jon Wayne Taylor went under the knife. Thankfully, he wasn’t sick. Instead, he was participating in something called the DOVE (donor outreach for veterans) program that supports vets who are dealing with end-stage renal failure and there are far too many of them. DOVE searches for willing living kidney donors and matches them with veterans in need.

JWT has the rarest blood type of all, AB negative, making his organs particularly valuable. He signed up to be the first guinea pig for the local program here in Austin and he’s now down a kidney.

dove kidney donation veterans

Good news: the surgery went well and he tells us he’ll be going home this evening. I asked him if he needed anything. I was thinking, you know, reading material…a quart or two of Blue Bell ice cream…maybe a medium rare cowboy ribeye.

This was the text I got back:

No I’m good thank you. Except for Federal primers. I want Federal small pistol primers.

Recovery from surgery like this will take weeks (he has four incisions) so he’ll have a lot of time on his hands. Time that might be well spent cranking out some cartridges. If only he had primers.

He’s usually well fixed for components, but as you’re well aware, these are unusual times in the ammunition business. His timing was bad, recovering during The Great Great Ammo and Component Run of 2020 and he’s fresh out of pistol primers with no way to get more. I’d give him mine, but all I have are shotgun primers, so I’m no help.

JWT isn’t someone who normally sits still for very long, but he won’t have a choice over the next month or two. He’s got to stay put and recover.

So, given the historic component drought, we thought we’d see if there’s someone out there with a healthy supply who could help us reward a dude who just did a very good deed. It would also allow him to stay sane during the long recuperation period (his family will no doubt appreciate keeping him busy, too).

If you have some primers you can spare — I know…I can hear the laughter from here — and would like to get them to JWT to keep him busy while he gets back on his feet, send us an email at [email protected] with PRIMERS in the subject field. And thanks.

 

 

 

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85 COMMENTS

  3. And here I am, sitting on a pile of CCI and Winchester small pistol primers.

    The poor guy just can’t catch a break!

    God bless ya Jon. I’ll pray that your kidney finds a suitable home, and for your speedy recovery.

      • You’re awesome. I hope he’s also getting help with whatever caused organ failure. I know what it was for my brother before he died – “treating” the bad memories of his time in the gulf war part 1. Not all have the same problem, but some do.
        Again, you’re awesome.

  4. I don’t have any handgun primers. All I have are 209 shotgun primers for my muzzleloader. And I only have a couple hundred of them.

    Godspeed Mr. Taylor.

  5. I don’t know if I possess the balls to give a kidney to someone I did not know. I watched my stepmother die from diabetes. She lost both legs and her kidneys shut down. Her daughter stepped up and gave a kidney. It did not take and my stepmother spent her remaining time on dialysis.

    For a child or grandchild, yes. A stranger?

    My hat’s off to you.

      • I’m currently a perioperative RN. Literally about 30 minutes from making incision on a shoulder. Trust me, your mother is 100% correct.

      • 40 years in EMS and as an ICU/NICU RN and your Mom is correct. Sometimes, even the simplest procedures go wrong, regardless if everything was done right. One of the reasons it’s called the “Practice of Medicine.”

  8. God bless you for donating a kidney.

    But of course federal primers are made from unicorn horns and virgin blood.

    Hope your recoup is uneventful.

  10. “If you have some primers you can spare — I know…I can hear the laughter from here —”

    A month ago, I offered a suggestion that he exploit his contacts and start up a primer manufacturing concern in Mexico, since he spends frequent time down there.

    But, noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

  11. Godspeed on the recovery JWT.
    I want what he’s having if he thinks this will get him reloading materials.
    I know that look in the pic, morphine. 😉

  13. Who’s that handsome young man in the pic?

    Good on ya’ JWT, a selfless act that few are willing to do. Esoteric Inanity is too much of a selfish bastard to do such a magnanimous thing. He may have some pistol primers stashed away though, have to check on that. Shame that Federal are the preference as this one typically makes use of Winchester primers.

    Take care and heal up quick.

  14. I only have about 300 cci large pistol primers and roughly 150 cci small rifle primers left. Dan, if he wants those just reply to this post and I will shoot you an email to get the mailing address and mail them out right away. I fully enjoy his articles and wish I could offer more. God speed JWT!

  15. I don’t have any primers other than shotgun and large rifle but I have some questions.

    Can primers be sent through normal mail/fedex or are they hazmat?
    Is/are Norinco or the Chinese in general prohibited from exporting ammunition components to the US such as primers?
    (Saw my cheap federal 12 gauge ammo say on box, “assembled in USA” which leads me to believe the components it is made from are not made in USA.

    Could primers or other components be bought by an individual in Canada and brought back to US?

    Was the Norinco ammo you could buy back in the day Boxer or Berdan primed like the Russian?

    • They are hazmat, requiring special labeling and handling, and oh yea, about$25-$30 in shipping fees + the weight of the package.

  17. You guys are awesome, but don’t actually send me any primers. The program doesn’t allow me to accept any gift or payment for the kidney.
    I do appreciate that it was my first thought after coming out of surgery.

    • It takes great courage and a spirit of special character to do such things. May your recovery be swift and smooth.

    • JWTAYLOR said “You guys are awesome, but don’t actually send me any primers. The program doesn’t allow me to accept any gift or payment for the kidney.”

      That’s why I’m sending you primers out of spite, to teach you a lesson for for being self important 😉

  19. You have given the gift of life, JWT. God bless you. If I had primers, I would send them all to you. Instead, my prayers for you and the vet to whom you have been so generous.

  20. I have a relative who donated bone marrow to a stranger. Very painful operation and long recovery. But the kindest thing you can do.

  21. Man, that’s some hardcore $hit! Hard as Kevlar coated woodpecker lips!

    I’ve had three major operations, the last one about did me in. I’m held together with 550 cord and 100mph tape ..but you Sir are a certified badazz to volunteer.

    Remember to sweat talk the nurses…they control the pain meds and coffee.

  23. Wow.
    That’s about the neatest thing a person could do.

    Godspeed on your recovery.

    P.S.- don’t get behind on your pain management. It’s a b!tch to catch back up.

  24. Uh-oh. I’m AB neg also. Now what am I gonna do if I need a kidney?

    FYI, I “donated” 11 adenomas — colon polyps — today. Probably no adenocarcinomas though. Propofol made it all worthwhile.

  25. Hrmm… well… since you put it THAT way… I can probably shuffle down the stairs and find something. Seriously though, next time just ask. The guilt trip is overkill.

    I kid, I kid. Well done.

    A minor quibble with the article however. AB- is not the rarest blood type. It’s the rarest of the common blood types with about 1% prevalence. There are rarer types, like hh (Bombay), which has an incidence on the order of 0.0004%. Rh null, the true universal donor, is even more rare. Like 43 people worldwide have been found with that.

  26. I’ve never been a big JWT fan… until now. That’s hella stand up of him.
    I hope his recovery is fraught some of the best things in life: deepened relationships with loved ones and some intellectually delightful books to read.
    I’m sure there are picture books for Texans 😉

  27. I thought about such a donation myself the past several years. I haven’t though, I have not found the courage and determination in me. JWT you seem to do the hard right things a lot, in addition to your other admirable qualities. As to the lighter part of this discussion, primers are the component I stocked up on least, stupidly figuring that their production could most easily be ramped up. I have no idea were I got that notion but it seems many moons since I last saw them, esp. CCI which I also use, in stock online. Once, yet again, I have been caught flat footed.

  28. I am a kidney donor. I donated in a swap program so my wife could get her transplanted kidney faster and not linger on the recipient list. My daughter is also a kidney transplant recipient and her donor was her husband with a more than 99.6% match. He and I are proof that you can lead and live a normal life on one kidney, especially if you take care of yourself and don’t do the dumb shit the doctors warn you against.

    PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE get yourself tested to be a match for someone who is in dire need of your help. At the very least become a organ donor and carry a card or have it put on your driver’s license and make sure your family understands your wishes when you die. Many of us spent a career in the military and we signed the proverbial check for up to our lives if it went there. That is called selfless service. Being a organ donor is also selfless and comes with knowing that your donation allowed someone to live a better life.

    Consider it.

  29. Pretty impressive act. I hope I live to see a day where we can more effectively deal with the shortage of organs via science (instead of the China method). If we can grow edible meat without killing an animal hopefully we can eventually grow a kidney and won’t have to worry about rejection.

    …but all I’ve got is a press and my used brass because I’m so bad at procrastinating.

  31. This will sound conceded, but it’s true.

    The primary reason I put the organ donor sticker on my DL wasn’t necessarily so someone else could live on after I couldn’t. Though I am glad that will presumably occur, for that person.

    I decided to do it after watching a series of strange documentaries where the donated organ of the dead person began to transfer traits of the donor onto the donated. Like the organ was allowing a continuation of that deceased life to continue on as part of that person. I figured what the hell, maybe I can live on in this manner.

    The strangest part is this can still occur while the donor is alive. Something about organs having memory.

    I’m mostly kidding. But I do think it’s cool one of my organs could still be alive after I’m gone.

    • Yeah, but what happens if you are a match for the governor and you get in a car accident. I would worry about them taking it after prematurely call me DOA.
      The shape I am in these days would preclude anyone from wanting any of my organs.

    • Don’t wait until you are dead. Organs from live donors have a better chance of success in the recipient than from cadavers.

  33. That is showing compassion for your fellow man in a way that really means it, quite commendable. Unfortunately I only have a few trays of CCI small pistol. Something in the Lee Manual scared me out of using Federal when I started reloading. Probably wasn’t relevant to my priming method but I didn’t know at the time.

  34. So I’ve only done one nephrectomy in my career, but that is a beastly surgery. Best of luck on recovery Mr. Taylor! I wish you all the best. LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTORS and for the love of God report any symptoms of infection immediately. Be well sir.

  35. Wish I had pistol primers to bless you with good Sir. May the good Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly and heal you quickly

  39. Still in post-op and worrying that your pistols are being fed properly, now that’s funny. The ancients thought that different aspects of our being were contained within our internal organs. I’m glad that giving away a kidney didn’t lessen your wit. Humor is one of the best meds, and you appear to be appropriately dosed.

    I wish I had some of those primers to contribute, but I have only CCI and Remington. However, I can offer a widow’s mite of prayers as you recuperate.

  41. wifey is an identrical twin, she’s down to one; her sister now has three. genetically they are like clones so no anti- rejection therapy.
    they recently celebrated their 30yr anniversary.
    i am careful not to get between them, if you choose sides they turn like vipers.

    jwt now has a nephrologist to go along with an impressive life line. this act speaks volumes.

  42. JWT, God bless you Sir, may He reward you ten thousand fold, cause that would be a lot of primers.

  43. He deserves some, unfortunately I have zero, so maybe it would be nice of the factory reps at S&B, Winchester, CCI or Federal would send him a case. I wish I knew how to reach those guys.
    He’s a brave man.

  44. “JWT has the rarest blood type of all, AB negative, making his organs particularly valuable.”

    Am I the only one that heard a cackle of evil laughter in the background when I read that?

    • Unfortunately they are out of stock and only have a “notify me when available” link. But thanks for the heads up.

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