Thomas (Gid) Rash, the PBA Southwest Region’s 2019 Rookie of the Year, is putting his bowling career on hold while he recovers from surgery to donate a kidney to a friend.

According to a story reported by KLTV’s Jamey Boyum in Longview, Texas, the 35-year-old Rash (no relation to PBA Tour champion Sean) found out a school friend – Clay Copeland of Weatherford, Texas – was in dire straits.

“One of my friends has end-stage renal failure. His kidney function is nine percent, and he’s on dialysis every night,” Rash told Boyum. “He’s got a wife and five kids. I have no kids, and honestly he needs it more than I do. I have had people make it be a big deal, and for me it’s not. It’s just something that I feel like if it were the other way around he’d do the same thing.”

Rash has been bowling for “about 16 years” and finally got to the stage where he felt he could compete at the PBA level. He had dabbled in regional competition in three previous years, but in 2019 bowled in 11 PBA Southwest Region events, cashed in four and had a pair of top five finishes. He was prepared for more. But, as Boyum wrote, Rash had no qualms about postponing his PBA activities.

According to his wife Brianna, the surgery is scheduled for Feb. 12 in Fort Worth. Rash said he thinks it will take about a year to recover and get his bowling back to where it needs to be to compete again. He plans on going back to pro bowling full force in 2021.

To view Boyum’s full account, click here: https://www.kltv.com/2020/01/28/east-texas-pro-bowler-puts-career-hold-donate-kidney/