A teacher in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, is giving a student at her school a gift that could save her life. Tanya Thomas, a fourth-grade teacher at Slate Ridge Elementary, came across a Facebook post about a student who was looking for a kidney donor. Little did she know that the student, 10-year-old Eva Brown, was a student in a classroom right next to hers.
Last year, Eva was diagnosed with collapsing focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, or FSGS, and was told that she would need a kidney transplant.
“She’s not even Eva’s teacher, she’s just a teacher at her school who responded to a Facebook post, and who does that for somebody they don’t know?” Eva’s mom, Alana Brown, said in an interview with WCMH-TV.
Thomas was tested earlier this year to see if she was a match for Eva, and although Thomas is prepared to donate her kidney, Eva has had a health setback and was readmitted to the hospital this week. However, Thomas says that when Eva is healthy enough, the transplant will happen in June..
“I thought I was going to lose my baby, and now I can watch her grow up,” Brown said of her daughter. “I can watch her play. I can see her go to prom and get married one day, and I look forward to seeing the woman she’s going to be, and that’s because of Tanya Thomas.”
Living-donor donations are important, and more people should take it into consideration. To learn more, visit the OrganDonor.gov website.
