Teacher Donates Kidney To Save Her 1st Grade Student In Texas

A first grade teacher in Texas is helping one of his students live a normal life by donating him one of her kidneys.

Lindsey Painter has decided to give her kidney to six-year-old student Matthew Parker whose parents sought donors last December.

According to the University Transplant Center in San Antonio, Texas, Parker's kidneys started failing just three weeks after he was born.

He was immediately placed on dialysis. After his body responded poorly to treatment, doctors placed him on the kidney transplant list.

In September 2010, Parker received a kidney from a deceased donor. However, more than two years after the transplant, his body rejected the organ and he was placed again on the list.

Matthew could only attend Painter's class two times a week due to his dialysis treatment.

More than 80 people responded to the Parkers' call for a donor and Painter was the perfect match.

"We were shocked when it came back as a match," said Painter, according to KSAT 12 TV station.

She added, "For me to be the needle-in-the-haystack match that they were looking for, it is hard to deny that it was meant to be."

Parker's mom, Lisa, is so thankful to Painter for the sacrifice. "Our family is so thankful that she came forward and that she had in her heart," she said.

The transplant center said kidney donors must be between 21 and 60 years old and in good health. They can either be family members, relatives or friends. It's not requisite that one should be a blood relative of the recipient.

Painter said she pondered about whether to go with the kidney donation but in the end, she decided that with her help, Matthew's life could change.

"It did take a while to wrap my head around it, to think that I can do this, I can still live a normal life...and I get to make this amazing difference in Matthew's life," she told KVUE.

Doctors will remove one of her kidneys in March. If the transplant is successful, Matthew can attend school full time.