Hometown Hero: Rudy Kautman

About this series: We at Fenton Patch believe everyone has a story to tell and we believe that many Fenton residents have some heroism inside them, not by saving the world, but by the way they handle the little things in life. That is why each month we will take an inside look at a Fenton resident's life and find out what makes the person tick. If you would like to nominate someone to be a Hometown Hero, contact Fenton Patch Editor Jason Alexander at jason.alexander@patch.com

Part of Rudy Kautman’s life could have been created by a science fiction writer.

Inside Kautman’s head is a man-made piece of technology that allows him to live.

Kautman was riding his brother’s personal watercraft on Silver Lake at a high rate of speed when he went into the water headfirst and twisted his neck. He collapsed the canal in his spine but didn’t immediately realize it.  

Fluid was accumulating around Kautman’s brain. He knew something was wrong but no one else did, nor did they believe him. His body was retaining fluid but people thought he was just gaining weight. Kautman began to display strange behavior due to the pressure of fluid on his brain.

“People thought I was drunk because when I walked I would stumble and fall and even drool when I talked," he said.

He went to numerous doctors and no one knew what was wrong. He was given prescriptions for diagnoses that didn’t exist. Finally, a doctor ordered an MRI and upon seeing all the fluid around Kautman’s brain, he was amazed Kautman was able to stand up.

According to Kautman, “That was on a Friday and I was told to go home and lie on the couch and not move until Monday.”

Kautman had brain surgery that Monday in 1989 for a condition known as hydrocephalus. He had a ventriculoperitoneal shunt put in his head. The shunt drains excess fluid around his brain, and he cannot live without it. 

“I have a man-made brain drain,” he said.

Kautman receives treatment often, as the shunt has to be adjusted differently for each person. Basically, Kautman is programmable. His shunt has broken three times and he has had numerous ministrokes. He has short-term memory loss as a result.

Kautman doesn’t use his medical condition as a crutch and does not let it get him down. He keeps a positive attitude and uses plenty of humor.

“All things don’t end; things can be changed. Just because you have something, it can be changed, fixed or altered in some way. Just because something happens doesn’t mean it’s the end,” said Kautman.  

Kautman has been a Fenton resident since the day he was born on May 28, 1964. He remembers when Owen Road was dirt and there was a farmhouse where McDonald’s now serves up fast food.  

“I was a quiet, shy teenager interested in riding motorcycles and repairing small engines. I used to mow lawns for all the neighbors, and I grew up on Silver Lake,” he said.

Kautman chose not to do well in high school and spent most of the time pulling pranks on the teachers. He failed all of his classes from ninth through tenth grade. One night he went to bed and said to himself, “What the hell am I doing? I can do this.”

The next day he was out of bed and ready to learn. There was a day when he was so sick that his mom shut off his alarm. Kautman got up anyway and went to school. His mom thought he had been in bed all day by the time he got home.

“I passed all of my classes and the teachers were impressed because no one improved as much as I did," he said.

Kautman can be found hanging out with his brother, filling up with coffee at the local Starbuck’s or watching Cops at home. 

Kautman and his brother, Bill, are also known to go on small adventures.

Once they saw a 1972 Pontiac LeMans GT in the garage of a house they were driving by. Bill had wanted to buy the vehicle three years prior but the husband and wife would not sell it to him. This time, Kautman told his brother that he would knock on the door and ask. 

The wife came to the door and informed Kautman that her husband had recently died and that the car was the last item she needed to sell.

The woman said that her husband’s body was donated to science and cremated. She hadn’t been able to find the keys to the car and assumed they were in her husband’s pocket the day he passed away.

She let the Kautman brothers look through the garage in some of her husband’s old toolboxes. They were told the keys were in a leather pouch with "Pontiac" on it. Kautman’s brother saw the keys in one of the toolboxes.

“The woman had looked everywhere for those keys. It was like we were meant to be there on that day,” stated Kautman. “We were able to open the car up, it started right away and my brother bought it.”

Kautman still cares deeply for his hometown.

“Fenton is a hometown even though it’s suburbanized. The best change I have seen in Fenton was the reopening of the Fenton Square," he said. “Me and my mom and dad were the very last customers in The State Bank before they tore it down."

According to Kautman, the only negative change he sees in Fenton is the influx of people, all the stoplights and the overwhelming feeling he gets trying to drive through the town.

His advice for Fenton is to slow down.

“Don’t let the town grow so fast that we lose control," he said.

Kautman and his wife, Helga, have two daughters. Meghan Kautman attends Michigan State University, and Madison Kautman is a freshman at Fenton High School.

Kautman stated, “If people see me on the street, they should know that I am happy and love my life.”