CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - A theater teacher at Cane Bay High School in Summerville needs a kidney transplant.
Edwin Hall has a kidney disease known as FSGS or focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. He says people randomly get this disease that breaks down the filtration of kidneys.
In April, doctors told him he would need a transplant a day after he returned from his honeymoon.
“I had been bracing for it but you’re never really braced for it when you hear it,” Hall said.
Soon after he told his colleague Taryn Hoyt who is also a theater teacher at Cane Bay.
“I think one of the first things I said was I could probably give you one and I think he thought I was joking at first,” Hoyt said.
They’ve worked in classrooms next door to each other for about five years.
“To build a friendship with them and not realize that the person who is going to save your life is right next door is kind of the most incredible thing I have ever thought. It’s like from a book,” Hall said.
While Hoyt isn't a kidney match for Hall, she's going to donate through the National Kidney Exchange. That means her kidney will go to a stranger in hopes that the stranger or another person on the transplant list will know someone that's compatible to Hall's B positive blood type. This will increase his chances of finding a match sooner.
About 20 years ago, Hoyt’s relative donated a kidney to another relative.
“That was the seed that grew and inspired me,” Hoyt said.
After nearly four months of testing she was cleared to become a donor.
"My wife and I couldn't be more grateful," Hall said.
It was Hall’s student Sarah Goblet who wanted to give them recognition. She aspires to be a college theater professor.
“They are exactly how I would want to be if I was teaching,” Goblet said. “They’re not just good teachers. They’re good people.”
There are about 100,000 people on the the national kidney transplant waiting list.
"We think that God brought us here together and is going to take us through it together," Hall said.
If you'd like to learn more about becoming a living kidney donor you can check out the following resources:
The National Kidney Foundation: https://www.kidney.org/transplantation/livingdonors
Medical University of South Carolina: https://muschealth.org/medical-services/transplant/living-donation
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