A pair of teachers at Crow Island Elementary in Winnetka, Illinois, are now connected through a life-saving act. When social emotional learning teacher Allie Szczecinski’s husband, Brad, went into kidney failure, art teacher Lillian Johnston volunteered to be tested as a potential donor. She turned out to be a perfect match and donated her kidney just before the school year began.
Johnston says she felt calm and certain from the moment she filled out the donor form, believing that she was “meant to do this.” And the donation couldn’t have come at a better time, as Brad’s need for a new kidney had become urgent. Johnston hadn’t even had a chance to meet him before stepping forward to help.
The surgery was groundbreaking, since Brad underwent an awake kidney transplant without general anesthesia, a first-of-its-kind procedure anywhere. Both donor and recipient are recovering well, and Brad is calling it “a new lease on life” for him and his young children.
Source: ABC 7 CHICAGO
photo: GETTY
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