Linthicum Heights Teacher Donates Kidney To Co-Worker

LINTHICUM HEIGHTS, MD — Students are taught the pillars of character and to be kind to one another, to help others when able. That very lesson played out before school even started this year at Lindale Middle School in Linthicum Heights.

Special education teacher's assistant Gary Simmons, a single dad of two, had been struggling. His health was rapidly declining as he battled stage five renal kidney failure. Dialysis treatments were the new norm. Doctors told him he would need a kidney in order to live.

"Being a single parent and a father of two children, I immediately thought about the fact that they would never see me as they grew up," Simmons told WBAL.

His team of doctors emphasized that a live donor was preferred in his situation. So he wrote to his friends and family hoping that someone would be a match and would help him. It turned out his life saver was right down the hallway.

His boss, a special education teacher at the middle school, volunteered to help. Danelle Chapman wasn't an exact blood type match, but they were able to participate in the kidney paired exchange program.

"I really thought this guy's got a lot to give. His kids are young. It doesn't seem fair. He should have a better quality of life because he has so much to give," Chapman told WBAL."They put us in a national database and they found a match for me, which then put Gary further in the list so they find a blood type match for him.

Just two days before his birthday, Simmons received a new kidney. He was stunned.

"She was able to help me and help someone else because she donated in a way I could receive. She extended my life," Simmons told WBAL.