Three educators from North Texas have donated their kidneys to three recipients, including a stranger, at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth over the holiday break.
“Through their chosen profession, teachers give so much of themselves toward the betterment of others, so it should really come as no surprise that these three chose to donate their kidney to someone in need,” said Joseph DeLeon, president of Texas Health Fort Worth, in a news release. “We are proud that Texas Health could play a role in helping to facilitate their selfless and lifesaving gift.”
Louise Bailey, 66, a retired teacher who works as an art assistant at J.C. Thompson Elementary School in Fort Worth, donated her kidney on December 20 to her former college roommate, Kathy Knowles.
The two reconnected in late 2020 when Bailey moved to North Texas. Knowles, 65, a retired Keller school principal, lived in the same apartment building.
“I really felt God’s hands in all of this,” Bailey said in the release. “To see how much she has had to go through and hope this can make her quality of life better, it was definitely the right thing to do.”
“I was having to take a driver’s test and one of the questions was, ‘Would you consider being an organ donor?'” Bailey said. “I’m thinking to myself, ‘Why don’t I just do it now? I’m pretty healthy.'”
The decision was made. Bailey called Knowles to deliver the news.
“She said, ‘Do you want a kidney?'” Knowles said. “I said, ‘Do you have a spare one somewhere?’ and she said, ‘Yes,’ I told her, ‘You’re not going to donate a kidney to me!’ That was stupid for me to say because Louise is the most determined person in the world.”
Knowles had been receiving dialysis for Stage 4 kidney disease.
“She knows how much I care and how much I appreciate her, and I’m going to spend the rest of my time showing her that,” Knowles said.
The next day, Ava Nickerson, 69, a science teacher at a high school in Valley View, north of Denton, donated her kidney to someone she may never meet.
Three months prior, Nickerson’s son, Joel Nickerson, 43, donated one of his kidneys altruistically, inspiring his mom to do the same.
“If my son could give his heart away and still live, he would do that,” his mother said. “He’s a very generous young man. I saw how he did … and thought, ‘I can do this.'”
All of the donors are doing well, including Mike Trevino, 54, a special education teacher and coach at Highland Park Middle School in Dallas.
“When I was a kid, I never understood when people said giving is so much better than receiving,” Trevino said. “I get it now.”
Trevino’s donation on December 22 was to Mason Williams, 28, a former co-worker at Polytechnic High School in Fort Worth. They kept in touch through texts and eventually met to watch a Polytechnic scrimmage.
“He told me that his one kidney had failed all the way down to about 10%,” Trevino said. “The way I looked at it, they have a daughter that is the same age as my granddaughter. I’ve had a great life and by no means do I think I’m anywhere near it being over, but he had too much going for him to be unhealthy, and to die soon would just be awful.”
Williams was born with one kidney. He and Trevino have become closer since their surgeries.
“We had only worked together for two, almost three years, so it was kind of a shocker,” Williams said in the release. “You’re giving another human being another chance at life, really.”
All the donors had surgery during their time off from school during the winter break.
“We knew it was important to them to get back to the classroom as soon as school started back, so we were excited to have the opportunity to accommodate this unique circumstance of three back-to-back surgeries the week before Christmas,” said Robyn Dye, transplant administrator for the program, said in the release. “And best of all, it made for a very Merry Christmas for the kidney recipients.”