The top item on Matthew Parker’s wish list for Christmas last year was a new kidney. He's about to be granted his wish.
The 6-year-old’s first grade teacher, Lindsey Painter, of the Hoffmann Lane Elementary in the Comal Independent School District in New Braunfels, Texas, agreed to step-in to save her student's life, San Antonio-based NBC affiliate News 4 reported.
Painter, who has a 10-year-old and 6-year-old of her own, said she couldn't "imagine having a child who is going through what Matt has gone through.”
Matthew’s mother Lisa, told News 4 that she was "shocked" by the gesture.
Days after being born as the smallest triplet, Matthew’s kidneys began to fail him, News 4 reported. He was placed in dialysis to filter the toxins in his blood, according to a page set up on the hospital’s website. Two and a half years after his first kidney transplant, Matthew’s body failed to respond to the treatment, putting him back on the waiting list.
Matthew reportedly goes to school part-time in order to accommodate the four-hour long dialysis appointments that have been keeping him alive. He will undergo his second transplant next month.
"Once he found out that he's getting a transplant, he's been so giddy every day,” the boy's mother told News 4. “He's been so excited. It will be a story to tell when he gets older.”
