A Tribute to Edsel Vincent Colvin June. 2014 | Page 16

About the Author

My name is Tony Rath. I was born on December 2nd, 1999, to parents Merry and C.A Rath, in
Corvallis. I weighed 4.6 pounds, I was 5 weeks early. I now live in a small home in Philomath
that houses my mom, dad, sister, and my dog, Diesel.
I got involved in sports at an early age, starting tee-ball when I was just five. I soon got
the love of football, but was too young to play. I went into basketball when I was seven, only
to start wrestling when I was nine. I finally reached the age to play flag football when I was
seven and played it for two years. I went into Pop-Warner for tackle after that. I continue to
play football and baseball, and I still wrestle. I placed fourth last year at districts and fifth
this year. In sixth grade I picked up track and compete in the high jump and relays.
When I was eight, my dad was diagnosed with IgA Nephropathy, which makes the
kidneys unable to filter waste from the body. He was put on dialysis and went to Albany
every other day after work for three hours. This happened for a while, and he went into
home dialysis, and then went back to dialysis in Albany. My dad received a saving grace in
2011 when a man by the name of Aaron Rutledge decided to give my dad a kidney. The
transplant happened in August, 2011. It has changed my life drastically, and has helped me
find my faith in God.