Elementary school teacher goes viral after donating kidney to student's mother

Donna Hoagland, who was the fourth-grade teacher of Troy Volk in 2016, became her hero for donating her kidney to Troy’s mother, Anahita.

During a conversation Donna had with People, she revealed that Troy was a happy child most of the time. However, he would sometimes come to Marsh Pointe Elementary School in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, crying.

One day, Donna decided to contact Anahita to ask what was the problem, to what the mother explained that she had kidney disease and usually underwent dialysis in the evenings.

EXPLAINING TROY’S BEHAVIOR

Anahita said that in the tough nights, Troy could notice that his mother was going through a hard time, what made him think “Mom was sick. Mom was constantly sick. Mommy was having a bad day.”

Donna then asked Anahita if she knew the testing progress for a transplant and, after the mother explained the process, the teacher jokingly asked, “You aren’t A-positive by any chance?”

DONATING HER KIDNEY

Surprised, the mother asked, “You don’t want to donate your kidney to me, do you?” After a long process that involved several tests and paperwork, Donna ultimately donated one of her kidneys to Anahita.

Troy’s mother couldn’t believe that Donna, who was not related to her other than through her son, would do such a thing, so she kept asking the teacher if she was sure of her decision, to what Donna would say “You need my kidney more than I do.”

The surgery took place on December 19, 2017, and nowadays, everybody is good and healthy. Troy said that his mother will always carry a piece of his favorite teacher with her.

SAVING A TODDLER’S LIFE

Anahita is not the only person who got an organ from a “stranger.” Two-year-old Emily Smith had cancer and needed a liver transplant to survive. Thankfully, 30-year-old Joseph Osborn heard her story and reached out her family to help.

Heather Smith, Emily’s mother, said she had no words to describe what Joseph had done for her daughter, and that just thinking about it “gives you chills. That was a huge surgery that he undertook for a complete stranger,” added Heather.

Emily is expected to live a perfectly normal life thanks to Joseph. The best of all is that her cancer is now in remission.