Mark and Tony - Holding the Rope!

We have a saying here "Hold the Rope" which loosely translates to "everyone helping everyone."  While we have a great group of people here, we have 2 employees that epitomize Holding the Rope.

Mark Rolands and Tony Tonkin have known each other for four years and are best friends.  They met when Mark was working at a different dealership and sold Tony a truck.   Mark is the Business Development Manager here and Tony is a Sales Consultant.

Tony has been having kidney problems - and that's putting it mildly.  He was hospitalized in October 2011 and diagnosed with Good Pastures Syndrome. This syndrome is a very rare auto immune disorder that destroys the filters in the kidneys - destroying their ability to function.  Tony spent the next 5 months having Hemo Dialysis.  This is where the blood is filtered and returned to the body.  After the 5 months Tony's health hadn't improved and he had to endure Peritoneal Dialysis for 12 hours every night.  This lasted for 15 months before Tony's doctors informed him that he needed a kidney transplant.

This is where Mark stepped in.  He was tested and found they had the highest percentile match - higher than siblings.  Tony never asked Mark for his help. "I just determined that I wanted to do something."  Both men had to go to the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale for testing to see if they were healthy enough for the 4 hour surgery. After everything came back fine they scheduled the surgery.  

The surgery was scheduled for May 28th and they traveled to Scottsdale on the 28th.  14 hours later Tony received Mark's kidney.

It's been about 2 months since the surgery and both Tony and Mark are feeling great.  Tony needs to take anti rejection pills for the rest of his life but is looking forward to the future. He had no complications after surgery, his health is good, he is engaged and has a good job. 

Meanwhile Mark has gotten healthier too.  He's gotten back to exercising and his remaining kidney will grow to make up for the one he gave to Tony. 

Our store’s philosophy is different from most. We are as much in the people business as in the car business.  (of course selling cars is very important) We believe in respect, support and loyalty.

Tony and Mark epitomize how to Hold the Rope and we are both proud and happy to have them at our store.