Kyle R RZEPKA

5 AUG 1982 - 15 NOV 2019

• BIRTH: 5 AUG 1982, South Bend, IN
• DEATH: 15 NOV 2019, University of Illinois Hospital, Chicago, IL

• MARRIAGE: 3 DEC 2016, Holy Cross Catholic Church, South Bend, IN

INDEX

[N22827] Kyle R. Rzepka
Aug. 5, 1982 - Nov. 15, 2019
GRANGER, IN - Kyle R. Rzepka, 37, passed away at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago, surrounded by his loving family on November 15, 2019. Kyle was born on August 5, 1982, in South Bend, IN, to Ronald and Rebecca Rzepka; they survive him. Also surviving Kyle are his sister, Tara (Jake) Rodts; twin brother, Corey; nephew and niece, Austin and Kya Rodts; and several aunts, uncles, and cousins. Preceding Kyle in death were his maternal grandparents, Joseph and Gertrude Szuba; and his paternal grandparents, Joseph Rzepka and Delores Bock. Kyle was kind, funny, outgoing, and lit up any room he entered. He was an outstanding athlete and had a genuine love for his family and friends. Kyle graduated from Penn High School in 2001. While there, he played baseball where he won a state championship and ran cross-country, where he became an individual state qualifier. He received a Bachelor's degree from IU Kelly School of Business in 2005 and was Rush Chairman for Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. He worked for Pella Windows for 13 years. Kyle was an avid White Sox, Notre Dame football, and IU basketball fan. He even named his Golden Retriever “Hoosier”. He always enjoyed a good game of euchre and bags with his family and friends. Kyle's niece and nephew, Kya and Austin were the light of his life. He enjoyed every minute he had with them. In 2018, Kyle was a living donor liver transplant recipient. He received the liver from his brother, Corey. A special thank you to the UIC critical care teams in the ICU and Lisa Mariano for her support and guidance. A Celebration of Life will be held at the McGann Hay, Granger Chapel, 13260 SR 23, Granger, IN 46530, parking off Cherry Rd., on Sunday, November 24, from 1-4pm. A few words will be shared by Rev. John Railton at 3:30pm. Food will be provided. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you make a donation to the Kyle R. Rzepka Memorial Fund in care of First Source Bank. Proceeds will go to the living donor liver transplant program at the University of Illinois. Please send private condolences to the family at www.McGannHay.com. Published in South Bend Tribune from Nov. 21 to Nov. 22, 2019

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Granger twins share a special bond, and a liver
By Bill Moor Columnist Jul 21, 2019

Kyle and Corey Rzepka shared just about everything when they were growing up - clothes, baths, baseball bats, friends, even dreams. They later shared in successes, highlighted by both contributing to Penn High School’s third-place finish in the 1999 state cross-country championship. They share the same looks, too - they’re identical twins, after all, born to Ron and Becky Rzepka of Granger in 1982. And now they also share a liver. It seemed that Corey might be destined to have health problems after he was born with a hole in his heart. But he made a full recovery and the twins became outstanding athletes - both good runners and Kyle even walking on the I.U. baseball team. But then six years ago this coming Thanksgiving eve, Kyle collapsed on his kitchen floor in Chicago and went into a coma. A drug interaction - he was taking medicine for both ADHD and high blood pressure - may have been the cause. “I fell over the night before Thanksgiving and woke up in December,” says Kyle who at one point was given a 1% chance of recovering. When he did, he was labeled by doctors as “the miracle of the hospital.” His problems were far from over, though. A few months later, Kyle contacted bacterial meningitis. That was followed by numerous other health issues -mononucleosis, C diff (Clostridium difficile), strep and sepsis. It all took a toll on his liver. He suffered poor health for nearly four years. Corey, who was working in Indianapolis, tried to stay in tune with his brother’s situation, but he felt helpless with the distance between them. They were still close but they also were enjoying their lives as individuals instead of always getting gauged as a twosome. “You sort of get tired of being called by the wrong name all the time,” Kyle admits. “But then I can look at pictures of us together when we were 7 or 8, and I can’t even tell us apart.” Yet they still seemed to have a bit of that weird twin ESP going between them. “One night, I was having all these nightmares,” Corey says. That was very the night that Kyle had fallen into a coma. And Corey wasn’t all that surprised when he got the life-changing call last summer. Kyle was going to need a liver transplant if he was to survive. In all likelihood, Corey was one of the few people - and probably the best one - who could be the donor. When they got together as a family (both twins are single but have an older sister Tara), Kyle knew he had a tough question to ask his brother. “An impossible question, really,” he admits. “But one I had to ask anyway.” Would Corey give him part of his liver - actually a little more than half of it? There was no hesitation in his answer. “Just a case of the baby brother taking care of his big brother,” Corey says, playing up the five minutes between their arrivals 36 years ago. “During a meeting with both teams of doctors, one of them kept looking back and forth from Kyle to Corey,” their mother, Becky, says. “And then he finally said, ‘This is going to work.’” That was early last summer. The transplant was scheduled for September. But then it was decided that the operation needed to be moved up to August 7. Why? Because Kyle might not make it beyond that. Both surgeries would last about six hours at the University of Illinois Hospital. And despite Kyle having his failing liver taken out completely, Corey would have the hardest recovery. “Our advocate at the hospital had told us that they try to make it a point not to tell the donor how difficult it will be for him,” Becky says. It wouldn’t have changed Corey’s mind.

Before they were put under anesthesia, Kyle turned to one of the doctors and said, “Make sure you take care of my brother.” Both surgeries were a success - the removal of Kyle’s liver and the harvesting of about 60 percent of Corey’s for Kyle. Despite being in extreme pain, Corey still got up that very day to check on his brother. Corey spent four days in the hospital’s ICU while Kyle stayed for three weeks.Almost a year later, both are fully recovered. Most importantly, Kyle has returned to a normal life. “And because I am an identical twin with the same DNA as Corey, I don’t have to take the anti-rejection drugs. I can do things that a lot of transplant recipients can’t.” Kyle is now working as a medical sales representative in the Chicago area while Corey is in digital design at Jamil Packaging in Mishawaka. Growing up, Corey and Kyle often knocked heads while competing and pushing one another on. It sometimes got intense enough to leave a few scars. Their biggest scars are now across their mid-sections. Those long thin lines are why Kyle is still living.
They could be called their lines of love.