STORY COURTESY OF USA TODAY:
A 15-year-old high school student who urgently needed a new kidney got a surprise from an unlikely source this year when his math teacher agreed to be the donor.
Eddie McCarthy. a geometry teacher from Whitmer High School in Toledo, Ohio, said he first saw a story in February about Roman McCormick needing a kidney donor. The story was two months old by that point, McCarthy said, and he secretly went to get tested to see if he was a match.
After undergoing several tests and waiting several months, doctors told McCarthy that he was a suitable donor match. In June, he was given a surgery date and at that point, McCarthy decided to share the news with Roman's family.
Roman's mom, Jamie Redd, said she was driving to pick up her daughter from school when she learned of McCarthy's gift.
"I couldn't believe it!" Redd recalled Monday afternoon. "I was driving to the library to pick up my daughter when Eddie called and told me he is my son donor. The doctors at the University of Michigan keeps you in the dark so we didn't know anything. I was very happy to find out that the donor was someone who knew my son."
Surgery for both parties went great and both are returning (slowly) to active lifestyles.
We could not be prouder of our two Panthers!