Mother Offers Her Kidney To Save The Life Of Her Co-Worker’s Daughter

A 50-year old teacher JoAnn Schettig has offered to donate her kidney to save the life of her co-worker’s 16 year old daughter.

The Daily Mail reports:

When JoAnn Schettig learned that her co-worker’s 16-year-old daughter, Alex Brigantti, was in need of a new kidney, the 50-year-old teacher’s assistant offered up her own.

Though she didn’t know Alex, JoAnn volunteered to help save her life, she said: ‘I just said I would do it, mainly because if it were my children, I hope someone would help us. You want to leave the world a little better than you found it, and it’s everybody’s job to help.’

Now, Alex is hopefully just weeks away from beginning to regain her health, with her transplant scheduled for July 14.

In August of 2014, when Alex was 15, she was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. She was told that her kidneys were functioning at just 35 per cent.

Doctors recommended a transplant, but successfully finding a donor can take years, a time that is often filled with repeated testing and crushed hopes.

One day, JoAnn overheard Alex’s mom, Aidimar Richardson, discussing her daughter’s search for a kidney. Aidimar is a data manager at the same New Hanover County elementary school where JoAnn teaches, and was unable to donate her own kidney because she had suffered from kidney stones in the past.

Though JoAnn offered to help, the chances that she and Alex were a match were one in 100,000. Luckily for Alex, JoAnn beat the odds.

‘Alex is very grateful,’ said Aidimar. However, she explained: ‘In the beginning she was wondering why someone [who] didn’t know her was going to help her.’

Since then, Alex and and JoAnn have spent time together, and have formed what Alex’s mother describes as ‘a special bond’.

‘She is giving my Alex the gift of a second chance,’ Aidimar said, ‘Our family can’t even begin to describe how grateful we are to JoAnn.’