Kidde Hero of the Week: Lindsey Painter

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Our Kidde Hero of the Week spotlights Lindsey Painter.

Recently, Kix found this story on People Magazine's website and wanted to share it with you! It’s pretty remarkable…
 

Last December, Lisa Parker emailed her triplets' first-grade teacher to let her know the boys would be missing school that day.  Why? Because the family was holding a press conference in San Antonio to help their six-year-old Matthew, who was a match to only one percent of the U.S. population, to find a kidney donor.

Matthew had a rough start in life… He only weighed one pound, 15 ounces, when he and his brothers were born four-and-a-half months early. Shortly thereafter, he had kidney failure.  He started dialysis and received a transplant when he was two, but a year ago, his body rejected that kidney – and he desperately needed a new one.

His brothers were too young to donate and because Matthew was on the transplant list for a long time – and had developed antibodies to most kidneys – it was going to be difficult to find a match for him.

But, when his teacher Lindsey heard of his struggle, she said she just had to see if she could help.   So, she decided to sign up to be tested herself and miraculously was a perfect match!!!  Nobody could believe it!!!  But now, the transplant is scheduled for March 19th.

Matthew says he is looking forward to the little ways the transplant will change his life.
He'll be able to eat anything he wants finally like cheese pizza, vanilla ice cream and cereal with milk and be able to do things he's never done before.

Lindsey will have a three-week recovery and says she can’t wait to see Matthew back at school and thriving!  

Matthew’s mom says Lindsey is a special person and they couldn’t feel more lucky or grateful for her!

For more on this story, click here.

Kix's Response:

How good is that?!?!

 

 

Nominate a Hero of the Week

Now, we want to know who has made a difference in your life. Nominate a local firefighter, police officer, EMT or someone who is serving our country in the military. It could even be a neighbor, family member or friend who lent a crucial helping hand. Let us know all about the person who you feel is a real life hero by emailing us here and please feel free to send us a picture!