Woodford County's athletic trainer gives to community while community gives back to him

Athletic trainers are arguably the most under-recognized members of a sports team. They pour into athletes by not only refining their physical capabilities, but also by offering emotional support through their respective journeys in athletics and in life. 

Many people forget that the job of an athletic trainer extends beyond taping ankles. Along with physical rehabilitation, the time an athletic trainer spends with their athletes creates deeply personal connections that extend far beyond a patient-provider relationship. 

Needless to say, athletic trainers have a huge responsibility to help athletes that goes beyond physical rehabilitation training. 

Walker’s Story

Walker Terhune has been an athletic trainer in Woodford County since 2005. His career began in 2000, but his love for sports came much earlier. 

Growing up in Versailles, KY, Terhune played all kinds of sports, taking a particular liking to soccer. When he moved to Tallahassee, FL at 15 years old, he continued his athletic career. After graduating high school in ‘91, he moved back home to study at the University of Kentucky. 

Terhune originally planned on studying architecture, but “didn’t realize what it actually took to be in architectural school,” Terhune said. (Author’s note: this is funny in hindsight considering the years of schooling athletic training requires.) Terhune knew that he was always interested in sports having grown up around them, so his decision to pursue athletic training came naturally for him. 

After earning his bachelor’s at UK, taking internships, and learning from various mentors, Terhune went to Eastern Kentucky University for graduate school. After graduation, Terhune took his first job as the head athletic trainer at Kentucky State University. 

Learning Curve

Terhune took the KSU gig not only as the head athletic trainer, but the only athletic trainer over 13 collegiate sports. 

“The difference between [training] college and high school is at the end of the day, somebody’s mom or dad is there to pick them up… At the college level, no. You’re there, you’re their healthcare provider. College athletic training is 24 hours.” 

Terhune was fully prepared to tend to the physical needs of the athletes he took care of. What he didn’t expect was the trust his athletes put in him regarding their personal lives. They came to him for anything and everything, seeking not only physical but emotional support as well. 

“You know about their lives intimately, because they will come to you for any and everything, because they trust you,” Terhune explained. 

These personal connections between Terhune and his athletes have lasted years beyond his time at KSU, as he still maintains contact with multiple athletes from his time in Frankfort. 

Back to his Roots

Once Terhune decided it was time to begin the next chapter in his career, the stars aligned and brought him right back home to Woodford County. When the position opened, Terhune was still hopeful to land a job at a mid-high Division 1 college. After a couple of years, however, Terhune decided he was right where he was supposed to be. 

“I just thought to myself, ‘I’m good,’ you know. I got a house, and here we are, however many years later,” Terhune said. 

And just like that, 18 years came and went. During his time at Woodford County, Terhune touched the lives of thousands of athletes, families, and students. His dedication to not only making athletes physically better but pushing them to be better humans has been recognized all across the county. 

Terhune has seen it all in his nearly two-decade career in Woodford. From zero-win seasons to state championships, new districts and regions, Final Fours, and the like. Terhune has been a constant in Woodford County. 

Bridget Walsh is currently a Ph.D. student in the Rehabilitation and Health Sciences Program and a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Professional Master of Science in the Athletic Training Program at the University of Kentucky. 

From 2018-2020, Walsh was a Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer for Woodford County Schools through UK Healthcare and a student in the Post-Professional Master of Science in the Athletic Training Program at UK. During her time at Woodford County, Walsh says that working with Terhune was instrumental in shaping her into the healthcare professional she is today. 

“Walker has helped me learn the hands-on skills that can’t be taught in a textbook — specifically communication with coaches, parents, and administration…” Walsh said. 

“The biggest lesson I learned while working with Walker was the importance of relationships. He is known and loved by everyone in Woodford County and those personal connections within the community allowed him to excel in his role and provide exceptional care in a very unique way.” 

It’s these same connections throughout the community that gave Terhune the opportunity to have a life-saving kidney transplant. 

Walker’s Kidney Journey

Around 2016, Terhune was diagnosed with IgA Nephropathy, a life-threatening disease in which the kidney deteriorates. There is no right way to take this news, but Terhunes first question to his doctor was, “How long before they just don’t work?” After learning his kidneys would last for about 5-6 more years, Terhune accepted this and did as his doctors told him. 

“From then on I was just like, ‘Okay, this is what I have to do.’ You just gotta do your best,” Terhune added. “But I knew, at some point, the kidney function is going to go down.” 

Once his kidney function got below 20%, Terhune was able to get on the national donor list. He explained the average wait time for a kidney is about six years. There are approximately 100,000 people in the United States waiting today for an organ transplant today. 

Doing his best to navigate this new challenge, searching for a donor, Terhune decided to post on social media to get his story out there. His posts on Facebook and Twitter had over 1,000 shares or impressions in just the first day. 

After a couple more years had gone by, Terhune visited the doctor in late 2020/early 2021 and learned his kidney function was below 10%, meaning he needed to have a transplant or start dialysis as soon as possible. 

This is where Dee Morgan comes in, a long-time Woodford Countian who knew Terhune through the care he proved for her daughter, Kennedy, who tore her ACL as a WCHS athlete. 

Morgan gave Walker a call in early February 2021, letting him know that she is a match. 

“I was like, ‘What?!’ I was really dumbfounded, I just said, ‘This is really surreal,’” Terhune explained. “To be in that situation where you need help like that, and someone who you know casually calls up and says, ‘Hey, I’m gonna give you one of my organs’… I think I said ‘surreal’ two or three times, because I was just like, ‘Wow.’” 

“A God Thing” 

Little did Terhune know at the time, Morgan had undergone testing since October of 2020 to see if she would be able to donate her kidney to Terhune. 

About four years prior, Morgan kept seeing advertisements for organ donations everywhere. She thought, “Maybe God is trying to tell me something,” Morgan said. She got tested and learned that her blood type was O-positive, meaning she can donate to anyone. She kept this information in the back of her mind, knowing she would be able to donate to someone in the future if the opportunity came.

Once she saw the story WLEX-18 did on Terhune needing a kidney transplant, her daughter said, “Maybe you could donate to Walker.” 

When Morgan underwent testing, she concealed the information from Terhune, knowing that there were many different qualifications she needed in order to be a perfect match. Once the doctors confirmed she was a perfect match, she gave Walker that call in early February. 

Morgan described it as “a God-thing,” the calmness and peace that she felt heading into surgery on February 26, 2021. 

“It was one of those things that was like, how you ever repay somebody for that?” Terhune said. His body took the kidney well as someone who takes care of his body and prioritizes his health. 

As you might’ve guessed, the replacement surgery was a huge success for both Terhune and Morgan, and they’ve shared their story with everyone they can since then. They’re both huge advocates for organ donation, as they describe one another as being like family now. 

If you want to save a life, sign up to be on the donor list at donatelife.net. You never know how much your donation can mean.