Oregon State coordinator donates kidney to OL coach's wife

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Oregon State offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf donated a kidney to offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh's wife.

Laurie Cavanaugh, 48, had living-donor kidney transplant surgery on Tuesday at Portland's Oregon Health & Science University Hospital.

Laurie Cavanaugh has autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, which enlarged her kidneys.

Langsdorf was identified as a match through tests with 18 individuals. She said the process of finding a donor took about a year and a half.

"I remember being in San Antonio at a football convention in San Antonio and he (Langsdorf) came up to me and said, 'Hey, I'm a go,'" Laurie Cavanaugh said Friday at OHSU, where she is recovering.

"I was like, 'Wow!' After about 18 people, I was shocked and excited. At that point I was getting kind of hopeless, I didn't think I was going to get any one," she said.

Langsdorf, also speaking from the hospital, said, "I didn't think it was right to sit back and not do anything, when I probably could have. So I decided to get tested. The fact that I was such a good match for her was such a positive thing."

Dr. John Barry, director of OHSU's kidney transplant program, performed the six-hour transplant surgery on Laurie Cavanaugh.

Dr. Michael Conlin, associate professor of urologic surgery at OHSU School of Medicine, removed Langsdorf's kidney.

"When you work as closely as a coaching staff does, you develop some really deep and solid friendships -- I guess you could say this is the ultimate in friendship," said Mike Cavanaugh, who like Langsdorf is in his third season with the Beavers.

Laurie Cavanaugh fought back tears when expressing her gratitude to Langsdorf, who said he was a merely a friend who wanted to help.

"It reminds you that when you're feeling OK and things are going pretty good in your life, you shouldn't have many complaints," Langsdorf said. "That's probably the biggest thing for me -- to give something to a friend and have it work out."