Long Island teacher donates kidney to colleague desperately in need of transplant
A Long Island special education teacher says she didn't think twice about donating her kidney to a colleague she barely knew.
Now, they're bonded for life.
"Will you take my kidney?"
Maggie Goodman and Thomas Coveney both teach at I.S. 73 in Maspeth. They would exchange a casual "hello" at work, but when Goodman spotted a post on social media, her life and Coveney's would become forever intertwined.
"[The post said] he needed a kidney, and I had no idea, didn't know he had any disease of any kind," Goodman said.
Coveney's kidneys were failing, said his doctors at North Shore University Hospital.
"There's about 95,000 people on the transplant waiting list waiting for a kidney transplant," transplant surgeon Dr. Ahmed Fahmy said.
Things were becoming dire for Coveney.
But unbeknownst to him, Goodman was passing all the donor requirements.
"An amazing thing to be able to do. My body allowed me to be a match with him," she said.
Goodman approached Coveney in the teachers lounge with a bag of kidney beans.
"[She] said, 'Will you take my kidney?' So it was emotional, had a bunch of hugs going on there, and then it got cut short because homeroom was coming and we had to teach," Coveney said.
"She's like an angel"
How was it so easy for her to make such a life-changing decision? Goodman credits a life raised in service.
"Boston College, which, the big slogan there is 'Men and women for others,'" she said.
"There's not a lot of people on this Earth like Maggie. She's like an angel. She saved my life," Coveney said.
When Coveney brought flowers to Goodman in her classroom, the students wanted to know why. Administrators used the selfless act of kindness as a valuable teaching moment and brought living donor awareness to the entire school.
"And just dignity of life. He deserves to be here and have a life with his 7-year-old daughter and his wife," Goodman said.
The transplant was successful. They say they even named the kidney.
"Now I can be like, 'How's Renaldo doing?' Just a little levity to the situation," Goodman said.
She was out of the hospital and back home after two days, and is urging others to become living donors.
Goodman's now back teaching, and Coveney will join soon.
