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Janine
Klaustermeier (left) and Lisa McDonald
Boyceville paraeducator Lisa McDonald is off dialysis and back in the classroom after friend and colleague Janine Klaustermeier, who teaches 1st grade just down the hall, donated a kidney.
“I am so lucky, I am so lucky,” said McDonald, an early childhood aide who also works in the heath office at Tiffany Creek Elementary School. “I had only four months of dialysis; most people have years of dialysis. And I can’t believe that she did that.”
McDonald, who suffers from a genetic kidney disease, began feeling tired and weak near the end of last school year. Doctors told her she would need a kidney transplant, and she was put on dialysis. The odds of her finding a suitable donor quickly were not good, especially since she has a relatively rare blood type and kidney disease runs in her family, making her close relatives unsuitable donors.
No sooner did McDonald tell fellow educators at Tiffany Creek about her diagnosis than Klaustermeier immediately stepped up.
“I told her right away, Lisa, I’ll give you a kidney,” Klaustermeier said. “If you can do something for another person, you check to see if you can do it.”
Miraculously, she turned out to be a near perfect match.
“This is just like a minor miracle, and it makes us all feel very happy,” said fellow 1st- grade teacher Carol Parsons, noting that the story is a reflection of the values taught and displayed in the school.
“I’m not such a great person; it just happened,” Klaustermeier said.
“You are such a great person,” McDonald replied.
Posted November 21, 2008