Great save

It was July 2003, and Frank "Roscoe" Natale was standing in the kitchen of his South Philadelphia home, enjoying a beer and sharing a few laughs with some friends. The gathering was in honor of the high-school teacher and football coach reaching the big "5-0."

But just beneath the celebratory surface lurked a serious issue of mortality.

That night, Natale’s buddy from West Catholic High School, Rick "Perk" Pergolini, told the coach that he might need a kidney transplant in the next couple of years.

"I had gotten the news that my numbers started to go up, and I knew there was the possibility that I would need a kidney transplant, so I began to put the word out there to friends," Pergolini said.

Natale, of the 1600 block of South Juniper Street, had an immediate response: "I’ll go get tested."

He did, and turned out to be a match.

"I didn’t want him to go on dialysis," said the assistant Bok football coach, now 51, referring to the process through which impurities are filtered out of the blood. "We are a good match. I am going to give him my kidney, and he’ll be good to go for the long haul.

"I didn’t need to think about it."

Since Pergolini, of Ardmore, has juvenile (Type 1) diabetes, his kidney functions are tested on a regular basis. According to the National Kidney Foundation Web site, juvenile diabetics have a 30-percent chance of eventually suffering from kidney failure. After getting tested last year, doctors discovered that the Academy Park High guidance counselor’s creatinine levels — a protein that serves as an indicator for a person’s kidney functions — was at five. He noted that levels as high as seven to eight are considered dangerous.

Pergolini, 50, said he is relieved to know that when he needs the transplant, he won’t have to put his name on the national waiting list for a donation. According to the National Kidney Foundation, the median waiting time for a non-living donor kidney was more than three years for those listed in 1999. Individual transplant centers maintain waiting lists with as many as 1,500 candidates.

"When you get the right match, 85 percent of the burden is lifted off your shoulders," Pergolini said.

Typically, blood relatives such as parents, brothers and sisters are the ideal living donors, but others also can be good matches.

Two weeks after getting tested at the Transplant Center at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Natale received word that his organ would be a near-perfect fit for his childhood friend.

A nurse told him it was hard to believe he and Pergolini were not brothers based on the match.

They might not be biologically related, but the men have followed a path closer than most siblings.

The 1971 West Catholic grads were in the same homeroom in high school and immediately struck up a friendship freshman year. Natale, formerly of 64th Street and Chelwynde Avenue, and Pergolini, of the 2800 block of South 64th Street, lived within two blocks of each other in Southwest Philadelphia.

They were editors of the school yearbook and played baseball for the Burrs. Pergolini played second, while Natale was behind the plate.

Like all good buddies, they still throw a few jabs about each other’s athletic abilities.

"We would’ve had plenty more outs if he would’ve put the throw down right," Natale said with a chuckle.

Pergolini tosses it right back.

"It’s tough to get that low when the throws bounce to second base three times," he responded with a laugh.

They still talk at least once a week, checking up on the family and making plans for their next get-together. The two families had their first-born children six months apart. Pergolini is the godfather of Girard Academic Music Program senior Gabe Natale, while Natale is godfather to 17-year-old Julia Pergolini. Also, Pergolini was Natale’s best man.

The friends also enjoy supporting each other’s athletic teams. Prior to this season, Natale spent seven years coaching the Bartram Braves football team, where he racked up 45 wins. This fall, he transferred to Bok to teach a new Sunoco-funded science program. He also is helping coach the Wildcats football program under Tom DeFelice.

Pergolini was the basketball coach for 15 years at Academy Park in Sharon Hill.

While awaiting the day his transplant becomes necessary, Pergolini has his blood tested once a month.

He already is grateful for the sacrifice his friend will make.

"This will solidify the sense of brotherhood we’ve had," Pergolini said.

But Natale sees his kidney as simply a natural gift of friendship.

"It’s just good being in a position to help him because sometimes you’re not," he said.