A kind high school maths teacher in Ohio is set to donate one of his kidneys to one of his students suffering from a rare condition.
Eddie McCarthy, a mathematics teacher at the Whitmer High School in the city of Toledo, in the US state of Ohio, is donating one of his kidneys to Roman McCormick, 15.
Roman suffers from branchiootorenal syndrome, which is a rare, hereditary condition that can cause kidney malformations and which is also known as BOR syndrome.
Roman told local media: “I’m not able to eat foods that most normal kids will be able to. I’m not able to be more [physically] active because [my] kidneys are slowing down my physical activity.”
He also said that his condition often makes him feel extremely tired.
Jamie Redd, Roman’s mother, said: “It’s spelled B-O-R and you can have the B, the O or the R. With Roman, he has the B and the R. We didn’t know that his father had it until Roman was diagnosed with it. And then his father had a kidney transplant [last year].
“They both had the R, which is ‘renal’ … The B is for ‘branchio’, so like, [Roman] had a hole in his chest and two holes in the sides of his ears. They were like divot size holes in the sides of his ears that he had surgery at 6 months to correct and fix.”
Roman’s condition gradually worsened and eventually led to him developing stage 4 kidney disease.
Without a donor, he would require dialysis.
So Jamie and Roman’s father Dan McCormick decided to ask for help and spoke to local media in the hope that a person willing to be a donor would come forwards.
McCarthy saw the story and decided to get tested to see if he could be a donor.
McCarthy said: “When I originally signed up, you don’t go into it thinking, ‘I’m gonna donate my kidney.’ You just go into it thinking, ‘Let’s see if we’re a match. Let’s see if it works.'”
He added: “And then it just worked. And it’s pretty crazy that it ends up being, you know, like his math teacher … because I know there were a bunch of other people that probably started the process as well. But you know, you got to be a match. It doesn’t always work out.”
Luckily they share the same blood type – O positive – and he decided to go forward with the donation.
Both Jamie and Dan are extremely grateful to the mathematics teacher for his help.
Jamie said: “I was just so speechless … I could thank him for the rest of my life and it would still never be enough for what he’s doing. And I know it’s a commitment not just from him, but his family too.”
McCarthy: “There’s people out there who need kidneys … You technically don’t need both of yours. So, why not help someone who really really needs it?”
He added: “It’s totally worth it to just go for it. Go get checked out and see if you’re a match.”
Newsflash obtained a statement from the Washington Local Schools dated 12th July saying: “Eddie and Roman have surgery scheduled for July 19th, where Mr. McCarthy will quite literally give his student the gift of finally being able to live as a normal, 15 year old boy.
“Roman himself is a quiet, soft-spoken kid, but that’s okay because his parents say there aren’t big enough words anyway to say thank you to this amazing human and teacher.”
The donation and transplant surgeries are set to take place on 19th July at the University of Michigan University Hospital in Ann Arbor.
