Slack uses kidney from his mom to compete

May 30 was a monumental day for Edgar High School spring graduate Eli Slack. He advanced from the WIAA Division 3 regional track and field meet on May 27 in all four of his events into sectionals on May 30 in Marathon. May 30 was also the one-year anniversary of him receiving a kidney transplant from his mother, Tara Slack, at UW Health in Madison.

Eli Slack wasn’t feeling well on Nov. 2, 2023, because his blood pressure was too high. He was rushed to the hospital emergency room where doctors found his blood pressure was 250 over 150, so he was kept in the hospital. Slack found out that he had IgA nephropathy which is an autoimmune disease that attacks a person’s organs in their body. The disease attacked Eli Slack’s kidneys and they failed. He was in the hospital 21 days and needed dialysis for seven months while he waited to receive a kidney transplant.

“Being on dialysis were the worst days of my life,” he said.

Both his parents, Joshua and Tara Slack, offered him one of their kidneys but discovered that Tara was a slightly better match as a kidney donor. They chose UW Health in Madison over Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for the kidney transplant. The successful kidney transplant occurred on May 30, 2024.

Eli Slack competed in cross country and track and field for the Edgar Wildcats until his IgA nephropathy diagnosis kept him out of last spring’s 2024 track and field season. He still showed up to track and field practices and meets to cheer for his teammates.

The kidney that Eli Slack received from his mother should last 40 years. He was able to run cross country for Edgar this past season even though it took him a while to build up his stamina again. He advanced from regional track into sectionals on May 30 in all four of his events including the pole vault, 100-meter dash and as a member of Edgar’s 4x100 and 4x200meter relay teams.

Eli Slack was a starting runner on Edgar’s 4x100-meter relay that took sixth place to land on the state championship podium on June 7 at Veterans Memorial Stadium in La Crosse. He was an alternate on Edgar’s 4x200-meter relay at state.

He plans to study business and finance at UW-Madison.