Are you ready for MAJOR goosebumps?
You might want to sit down.
You might remember back in December, we shared the story of Whitmer Sophomore, Roman, whose kidneys were failing - in desperate need of a kidney transplant.
Roman recently found out that due to the publicity of his story, someone secretly went, got tested, quietly endured five months of rigorous testing in Ann Arbor and discovered they were a PERFECT match.
That’s right. Roman has a living donor and will receive a beautiful, healthy kidney next week at U of M.
But that’s not all.
His donor?
Whitmer Geometry teacher: Eddie McCarthy.
“He was in my class this year and he’s such a nice kid. After seeing that news story, I figured I would at least try.”
Although he didn’t tell anyone but his own family, before he knew it, McCarthy was passing each round of rigorous testing as the perfect match for Roman.
Initially wanting to remain anonymous, his wife encouraged him to call Roman’s parents, saying, “If this was our child, I would want to know.”
Eddie agreed.
“Once you’re a parent yourself, you can’t help but think of what other parents are feeling,” he said.
That phone call was one McCarthy had no idea how to make. (“I even had a script!”) Understandably, Roman’s parents were stunned.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” his father said.
Eddie and Roman have surgery scheduled for July 19th, where Mr. McCarthy will quite literally give his student the gift of finally being able to live as a normal, 15 year old boy.
Roman himself is a quiet, soft-spoken kid, but that’s okay because his parents say there aren’t big enough words anyway to say thank you to this amazing human and teacher.
“Our angel,” mom calls him.
Dad could only cry.
The gift of life.
The gift of time.
The most selfless gift of love.
We are wishing these two ALL the best as they begin this life-connecting journey together.
Put us up against anyone.
The Washington Local Schools community is unmatched and they both have a full army of Panther Warriors behind them. 
Media Outreach: kpeters@wls4kids.org